


Left Brain Right Brain

by AsilandWriting



Category: Left Brain Right Brain - Bo Burnham (Song)
Genre: Family Bonding, Family Issues, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-05-15 21:15:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 135,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19303975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsilandWriting/pseuds/AsilandWriting
Summary: “Your emotions and your logic are at war.”Bo, who had started unconsciously fidgeting with his hands, trying to scrub them clean, pursed his lips.“What?”Another clack in the back of the room and Bo folded further into himself, unnerved by the atmosphere, his heart hammering in his chest as the computer settled down, the sound of it overheating coming to an end.“Your creativity and your analysis are at war,” it repeated, the lack of noise for confirmation that it had been heard making the computer add, “Most simply, your left and right brain are at war.”And so starts an unlikely adventure, where a Left Brain side needs to befriend a Right Brain side, and vice versa.It can only end up in disaster.





	1. A Visit Gone Haywire

Bo had been folding his paper note for half an hour now.

Any other person would have stopped fidgeting with their tiny, hastily scratched map after it had been absolutely crumbled, but Bo did not. He could not. He always crinkled with smaller paper notes until they were unquestionably unusable, turned into either balls or strips of white. The mindless hand movements were a perfect way to distract himself off other things, concentrating on folding the sheets into perfect squares instead of pondering and doubting about the inevitable tasks awaiting him.

So whenever he was about to fold his whole map open, he bend it again, as if to close and crush the pessimistic thoughts rampaging in his mind.

The sad piece he was holding now had already creaks and lines all over the white surface, looking like it had been through the washing machine. The cause of it being wet were his hands, sweaty in nervousness and damping the sheet. And as he realised after the 54th time, because he counted every time he reopened the piece, that the paper was starting to rip, he frowned, knowing he still needed the paper to actually get where he was being driven to.

So he sighed and hesitantly let it go, the sheet sailing softly onto his leg while he moved his hands under his armpits and his head to the side, staring out of the bus window.

As of now he was driving by the sign that proclaimed “City Border: Welcome to Vinestone”, an excellent sign to represent the fact that he had crossed the line from his little village into the neighbouring town, where sky scrapers stood side by side. If he had to specify they were like trees shooting out of the ground, grey pillars that towered over him. Bo had an antipathy towards the city. The air was always cramped with the smell of gasoline and smoke, people were stressing out to go where they needed to be and cars beeped, rushing from one point to the other in the crowded streets. As if stepping onto the gas pedal would make them any faster than they already were Bo thought with grim amusement.

He always had laughed at the thought, but he had never driven a car before so he was not sure if he would press the button if he were sitting behind a steering wheel, waiting and waiting to move.

His luck, or maybe curse, was that they were moving fairly fast, the bus driver stopping occasionally to let people in and out, traffic moving slowly but steadily. Bo was sitting in the back row, the very last seat, watching passengers as they either pulled their phones out, took a free seat or started conversations with the ones beside them. Another look out of the window confirmed that he had crossed over, the trees and green fields gone, as if erased, and in their place grey facades, milky windows and people walking down ashen streets filled with garbage. Some trashcans were walking around as well, picking up cigarette stumps and in the distance were some robots cleaning the windows.

It was incredible what half an hour could do to change the scenery.

Bo flinched then as suddenly one of the clean-up bots knocked into the window he was sitting beside, eyes darting from the skyline to the green lenses that stared unblinking into his soul. He held his breath as another slight hit followed, making the glass clink and vibrate, before the robot realized that the street was blocked, turning on its wheel heels and rolling to the opposite side. There it continued scanning the ground for more trash to pick up, throwing it into its open belly and burning it to ash.

For a second Bo followed with his eyes to where the rolling bucket was headed, before wondering if he could just stay in the bus and return home, driving in a circle.

But he did promise Wade to go see that “special doctor” and he was not a liar.

Bo was not a liar.

Just as he had mulled that over, the bus stopped, Bo recognising the sign as the place he was supposed to get off and he pushed his way through the crowd which was blocking the exit. The moment he stood outside he realised however that he was the only person that had actually moved. At first he dismissed it, watching as the doors closed and the vehicle drove off, but as he roamed the place with his eyes he noticed how barren the area was.

Everybody knew that the city was a bustling place, filled with life, artificial or not. Vinestone was known for its work places, for its night life, for the technological advancements that literally followed you every step on the way. But here he could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears. The street behind him was empty, no other cars drove through and the thin pathway in front of him was just a grey line leading into darkness. The asphalt was cracked everywhere, bone dry, rubble and trash gathering at the side of it. A few bushes were plastered at its edges as well and as dishevelled as they were, he guessed nobody had gone through here in a thousand years.

At most 10 years, he corrected himself, a thousand were over the top.

But 10 years or a thousand, this place was obviously creepy.

A tremor run up his spine as he swallowed away the uneasiness before he opened the paper, the ink sprawl of his friend’s writing unmistakably leading him along the narrow street. His feet moved slowly, trying to escape the inevitable as he hummed to himself. The closer he got, the louder he sung to himself to block out the blood rushing through his ears, once again his fingers in the progress of folding the helpless paper. And before he really realised what he was doing, thick branches greeted him, thorns shining in the twilight, warning him to come any closer. But he simply furrowed his brows, squared up his shoulders and hardened his stare, pushing his way through the gnarly vegetation.

After a few feet of humming, trying to break the twigs, pushing them away and getting slapped in the face, he reached a round building. Bo needed a minute to make sure this was the place he was looking for; a bubble-shaped building covered in white metal plates, while around it stood nothing but concrete. Neither up nor down that street stood any other house, the bushes surrounding the area like it was a prison, no block or apartment anywhere.

The street lamps, which went along the rundown pathway, were already starting to work as well, night slowly creeping closer and Bo had the sinking feeling that he had just entered forbidden territory, his improvised song dying in his throat.

The car that rotted away in the corner prevented him from being reassured either, wondering who had left it there.

Maybe it had been here for centuries?

No. Don’t be ridiculous.

It was still unnerving to see how rusted it was.

This was a bad idea.

But it was his last chance to get help, he had no other options left.

He just hoped he would get out of here fast.

“God, Wade, where did you lead me to? I swear, this looks like a laboratory…” he grumbled to himself as he stepped up to the door, looking through the glass as one hand was placed on his forehead so he could shadow his eyes to see better, “It doesn’t even look like anybody works here anymore…”

He blinked to try to make anything out, only leaving him with the knowledge that a reception was to the left, a couch and seats to the right, while plants decorated the corners of the room. No windows, just the glass door brought light into the building, his own shadow the only person he was meeting with.

“I guess I’ll have to leave again if the door doesn’t open,” he decided, “I mean, it’s not my fault then, it was Wade who said that it would be open no matter when I came. And I did come, here’s the bus ticket, people saw me step in so he can’t go “You didn’t go!” He will know I tried to get professional help, he knows I wouldn’t lie to him. I mean, what can I do? Nobody here, nobody to ask, I’m on my own so how about no? How about I leave again, because actually this place is creepy as all fucking hell.”

He cast his eyes down the street where the bus station was and he breathed out.

“One last look, one knock and if nobody comes and opens that door, I’m gone, that’s reasonable.”

Bo nodded at his own statement, trying to talk himself into a false sense of righteousness, as he then lifted an arm to knock against the glass. While he did so, he stepped closer, one foot lifting onto the doormat, activating the gates mechanism. Swiftly the two plates rushed to the side, surprising Bo greatly and making him stumble. Next thing he knew he toppled over, falling forward and groaning as he hit the ground with a loud thud, the fall making him see stars.

“That’s one tick for stupidity, these are automatic,” he muffled, face still buried in the carpet underneath him.

For a second he just laid there, bathing in his misery, his body not ready to stand up again. He could feel exhaustion pulling at him, his back cracking as he set his chin on the ground, now observing the room from his sunken state. Posters were hung up with motivational phrases like “Hang in there!” “Brains, we can trick them” and other, he rolling his eyes.

Soon he noticed that the carpet was not shielding him from the ice-cold ground, a frustrated moan leaving him.

After he pulled himself up, silently scolding himself for getting startled by a door, he went straight ahead to the reception. Immediately after setting his hands on the desk, he stuck his tongue out, the feeling of dust clinging to his sweaty palms making him shiver. He shook them out with a queasy feeling in his stomach, blowing the table clean, before looking for anybody to talk to. Not a single soul was around and he lifted an eyebrow, leaning forward to get a glimpse behind the corner. But the only things that were worth mentioning were the computer facing him and the small plant, which he confirmed to be fake after trying to sniff it, his thumb brushing over one of the plastic petals.

“This sucks.”

He had half of his mind settled on the decision to just go again. This whole endeavour was ridiculous, the building was certainly abandoned and there was hardly a chance he was going to get help in here. But the other half was determined, insisting to stay until he found someone or something. So he pressed his hand forward and started the computer, wanting to find out if his invitation had been send from this one.

Somebody had to be working here, somebody must have send the confirmation letter to Wade.

Maybe it was the computer itself with an automatic function.

It could be.

That meant nobody worked here and it was all a mistake.

Bo wondered that for a few moments, the need to leave and to stay keeping him rooted to his place. Looking around to distract himself, he stared at the couch and the sudden thought assaulted him how fun it would be to use it as a trampoline.

It looked decent enough, soft as well, probably able to hold his weight.

It would be fun.

But he shook his head, dismissing the idea as he crossed his arms and leant forward, staring at the screen while it lit up. He was about to lift his arm to get the mouse, but backed then away in fright instead as the machine let out an overly friendly “Hi!”

“JESUS!” yelled Bo in surprise, arms in front of his face, ready to fight, legs in the position ready to bolt.

“Confirm name. Jesus?”

Bo blinked slowly, arms falling beside him, staring.

Two black dots for eyes and a curvy line as mouth stared back, the stark white surface behind the cartoony face blinding him, before he shook his head, replying with: “No. I am Robert Burnham. People call me Bo.”

“Confirm name. Robert?”

“Yeah, that’s the official one.”

Peeping was the answer and next thing Bo knew the reception desk slid to the side, a passageway opening for him to the room behind. He looked around for a second, wondering if he still had the chance to back out, before he sighed and went ahead. Behind the desk was still no person in sight and he rounded the corner he had tried to peek behind. There he was met with a gigantic black door, Bo stopping in his tracks.

“You know what, no.”

His eyes snapped back to the computer on the desk, which was smiling way too bright.

“No, fuck this, fuck you, alright? I’m not gonna go in there, this looks like I’m gonna be murdered in there.”

His first reaction was to lift his hands to the side of his head, poking his pointing-fingers towards the ceiling as if he was about to start an argument, before he turned on his heels away from the looming blackness. Two steps later he stopped again, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth, as he then messaged the bridge of his nose.

He had to get help.

He promised.

He had to.

Another look around the room made him take notice of the camera blinking in the corner and beside his better judgement stepped up to it.

“Hey, anybody behind that thing?”

“Welcome.”

A shudder went through Bo for the fact that he had not anticipated to be greeted, but then spoke into the microphone located to the side.

“Yeah, hello. May I ask where the hell everybody is? I have an appointment with a doctor but there is only a computer here.”

“Please enter the door.”

“You are a recording, aren’t you?”

No answer and Bo buried his head in his hands as he then lifted his face towards the ceiling, letting out a gigantic sigh.

“This is great, you know? I just wanna see an actual doctor and here I am talking to a piece of metal.”

The camera flashed red.

“The door is open.”

“Thanks for the statement, really helpful.”

“It was my pleasure.”

Hitting his forehead with an open palm, he murmured: “Of course it was…”

The next thing he did was get to the door, grabbing the knob and turning it, swiftly slipping inside and roaming the new chamber with his eyes, awe taking over.

The enormous computer on the wall in front of him was the first thing he took notice of; a grey, slick screen hung up in a completely white room, differing from the beige he had just been walking in. Its size was comparable to a cinema screen, tilted forwards and almost judgingly hovering above him. His eyes drifted over it in a hint of amazement as well as respect, stepping closer, realising that it was actually even bigger than a cinema screen.

Holy shit, maybe he could watch movies on this thing?

No, concentrate.

His eyes flickered to the side then, trying to get his bearings back and realized that the chamber was not just a colourless white and black but wires of red, blue and green stuck out from every side. Connected to the ceiling and walls, disappearing behind thumb-thick, metal plates, they curled around each other like snakes. His eyes drifted to the side then, discovering some kind of lamp, a glowing stick that stood vertically and gave a blue hue, as well as more wires. He blinked, only to move his head right and identifying the same device a second time, looking like they were pointed at him as well. Then he gazed at the floor and he acknowledged that in between the tiles blue lines of light blinked in and out of existence.

He felt like he was sitting in a modern spaceship.

That was actually pretty nice, he liked space.

Then he crossed his arms, carefully calling out.

“Hello?”

“Hello, patient 24602.”

That made him shriek in surprise as the screen started to flicker, Bo lifting his arms to his face to shield himself from the light that flooded the room into a static green. After making sure that he was safe, his heart beating against his ribcage, he stared up, his mouth forming into a thin line.

“You’re kidding me, right?”

“How are you feeling today?”

Bo sighed as he put his head into his hands, realizing what his friend had done.

It must have been his intention in the very first place.

Of course he had decided to refrain telling him that he was not sending him to another human doctor, what had he been thinking? Honestly, as if a person could help him, he had tried that enough times. No human had the patience, the strength of will, the knowledge and the time to actually help him, to actually figure out what was wrong with him.

So a super computer had to do.

Instead of answering, he had another question on his mind, asking: “What is this place?”

“You are in Vinestone’s Laboratory for Brain Research. I am the computer that will diagnose your symptoms and attain the most favourable solution to your predicament.”

“So this IS a laboratory, did I understand correctly?”

“Indeed.”

“Well, fuck you, Wade, you asshole.”

Bo felt betrayed, his best friend had set him up with a computer meeting.

Wade knew he loathed the idea of talking about his problems, to go through them over and over again, but to set him up with a screen and to be diagnosed by a cold calculator?

Fuck that.

“This is all bullshit. You are nothing more than circuits and bolts, a robot. Scientists made you, people made you, so if a doctor, a person that is qualified, can’t help me, how can you? From the looks of things nobody has used you for years, this building is abandoned, so that means you must be either defect or just plain useless. You can’t help me.”

The computer whirred after that statement in the background, sounding like a motorcycle that was being riled up. Afterwards it went on in a monotonous voice, which Bo would have described as the one his mother had used when she had been unimpressed by his antics.

“I will help you.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“I was built to help.”

Somehow that lifted a weight off Bo’s shoulders, clinging with his fingers into his arms, staring at the ground.

He needed help.

He wanted help.

“How are you feeling?”

“You wanna play the game like that, huh? We are really doing this?” grumbled Bo still dissatisfied with the situation before he breathed out through his nose, “…Not great.”

“Has the treatment been working?”

“I’m sure Wade send you all my papers from the few years prior, all the failed attempts and so on and so forth so… I don’t think so, no. It hasn’t been.”

“What are your physical symptoms?”

“The last few years I had splitting headaches, the last few months I started having these nosebleeds that just keep coming even when I’m not actively stressing out and the last two weeks I started passing out at my work place and on my way home multiple times.”

“What are your remaining symptoms?”

Bo looked down once more as he pondered his answer, before he shrugged his shoulders.

“I just- I internalize my feelings a lot,” he then started, his words tinted with anger for they have been thrown at him so many times that he could recite them from memory, rubbing his hand up and down his other arm, “I have trouble articulating how I’m feeling to other people and… and I just can’t relate to them as hard as I try anymore.”

“Other notable mentions?”

“No. Nothing that you don’t already know thanks to my records.”

“What is your goal?”

Another silence stretched out and Bo was biting his lip, wondering what exactly he should tell the screen. There were a lot of things he could have said, a lot of things he could have mentioned that might have been of use. But once again his thoughts scattered and he wiped at his eyes in exhaustion. Before too long he settled on a soft sigh escaping his lips, his arms curling around his chest.

“I want to stop pretending.”

He closed his eyes.

“I want to stop fucking pretending, alright? I… just want to be myself again for once. This is not… this is something else. This is not who I fucking am and there is something wrong with me.”

“Can you elaborate?”

“I just don’t know alright? I was different back then, I was someone else and now?” His voice was getting faster, his hands flying to the side. “There are moments were I feel nothing, nothing at all and then there are moments were I just burst and everything bubbles up to the surface! There are moments were I feel normal and then back to square one, I…”

There was a squirm in his stomach then, a migraine building itself in his temples and he brushed with his hand under his nose, warm liquid dripping down. For a moment he felt sick again as he stared at the red that was coating his fingers, iron dripping down his throat, wanting to give up, turn and leave. Go back home and sleep it off, tell Wade that he had kept his promise and that it had been useless.

Shaking out his hand, only to press is back on his nose and tilt his head back, he took another deep breath.

“I am aware of it, these headaches and stuff happen all the time and I can’t do anything about them. And I need it to stop, I need to have control over this, I need to work and take my life back into my hands. I feel like I just-…“

“So basically you are a bitch.”

Bo lifted his eyebrows, staring at the screen with confusion, the blood still dribbling down his chin.

That was unexpected, he had doubted the computer would be able to convey something as an emotional response, in his case a mocking one. But here it was, doing just that, calling him names. It also made him suddenly feel very aware of the fact that he was outing himself once more and was being ridiculed in the same breath. Faces of unbelieving, white kittled people frowning at him appeared in his mind eye, a tight feeling swimming in his chest.

Rolling his eyes, Bo grumbled: “Yes, very mature of you disembodied voice way up there.”

“I was just joking, dumbass.”

And now fists started to curl into themselves as Bo gritted his teeth, pointing at the screen with a growl.

“Okay, Alright! You’re not as safe as you might think with that shit! You’re already on thin ice with me, do you even know how many times I have been through this?! People calling me a moron?!? It’s your job to figure out what the actual fuck is going on, so do your stupid ass job, I’m not here in this freaking tin can building just to be smack-talked by a rust bucket of a processor!”

“I am not human. I can say whatever I want.”

“You-!”

Halting in his tracks, a flash behind his eyelids made itself known and for a second he toppled forward, his vision going blurry. Seemingly a million thoughts were racing through his head, his knees digging into the ground before he settled on getting his balance back, swaying his body upward. Kneeling on the ground, he stared blankly at the floor, speckles of rust swimming in front of him. His hands then unfurled, and he stared at them, becoming aware of his problem with full force once more.

He swallowed.

He was getting worse.

Plus he was talking to a robot researching brains for god’s sake, it probably had anticipated that reaction and he could have kicked himself in the shins for not noticing straight away.

“Okay, just let’s get to the point,” Bo then simmered down, bloodied hands waving first up and down, before he settled them in his lap to keep himself calm, “What’s wrong with me?”

Silence followed and Bo waited, his ears picking up on the clicks and clacks that emitted into the room. Light sparked off the ground then and he wondered if all the static would cause him harm, the air electrifying and taking form around him. The room dimmed slightly, the blue hue of the lamps taking over as the white bulb above was set to rest. Soon the screen of the computer was glowing brighter as well and Bo noticed tiny, green zeros and ones cascading down, so fast that he was not able to keep up.

His eyes followed as if hypnotised, not making any sense of the spaces or the numbers.

“Your emotions and your logic are at war.”

Bo, who had started unconsciously fidgeting with his hands, trying to scrub them clean, pursed his lips.

“What?”

Another clack in the back of the room and Bo folded further into himself, unnerved by the atmosphere, his heart hammering in his chest as the computer settled down, the sound of it overheating coming to an end.

“Your creativity and your analysis are at war,” it repeated, the lack of noise for confirmation that it had been heard making the computer add, “Most simply, your left and right brain are at war.”

Bo still needed a second to process the actual words, before he repeated a bit dumbfounded: “My left and my-…?”

The pause was lingering in the room and Bo tucked his arms around himself, wondering what else there might be it could tell him. He would not have thought that the solution would be that easy or so simply answered, for the fact that he had been through a vast amount of doctors giving him advice. That his hormones might be at fault or any other kind of medical reason they would pull out their noses, because they were at their wits end with him.

They had never proposed that his literal brain halves were fighting however, that was new, and even more ridiculous, to him.

But it was a new lead he had never considered.

His nerves soon got the better of him as he lifted himself off the ground, starting to step from one foot to the other, the machine getting louder by the minute, going through what he had just heard.

Did that make sense?

Well, it would explain him not feeling stuff right.

Or having those crossing thoughts that did not seem to belong to him. The need to shout out his emotions when he felt weakest.

But then closing up again.

That kind of made sense.

He breathed in to calm his nerves, realising that he was holding it to not panic any further, only then to splutter at the next words the technical device uttered.

“To fix the problem we must separate them from each other.”

“Sep-?” he stuttered, mouth open as he whispered, “What do you mean?”

Before he could fully comprehend what was happening the door behind him shut close with a thud, the moment he reached for the knob realising that he was stuck. Bo looked up in panic, feet staggering back on their own as every single red light in his head started to screech. He was unsure on how to act, the question of what to do, hiding or fighting, battling each other heatedly. For a moment a sense of self-awareness hit him, the fact that he was deciding what to do in a moment where the answer for his well-being should have been clear as crystal.

A tremble went through him, before he looked over his shoulder, anger visible in his stance.

“I will not just stand here and let myself be cut in two halves! What right do you have to do that without my consent?! I demand that you open that stupid door right now and let me go home!”

The computer halted, Bo hoping for a moment that he had used logic to his advantage, but then he had to be disappointed as the computer replied: “My objective is to help Robert Burnham. Diagnostics say separation is needed for his mental stability. Splitting your neurological functions in five… four…”

Bo swallowed hard as he stepped back again, laughing in nervousness as he rubbed his neck: “Can we book an appointment or something…?”

“Three…”

“Look!” shrieked Bo then, as he saw that the two glowing sticks began to burn brighter, suddenly moving out of their stations, “You just don’t start counting down to major medical procedures!”

“Two…One… This may hurt a bit.”

“I don’t even know what “it” is!!”

Bo was still trying to escape the sudden rush of light, trying to push the door open, but nothing moved and his legs were glued to the ground in dread. He could not flee, could not fight, could not even think clearly as the two sticks were closing in, his eyes burning from the blue force, dancing dots clouding his vision. In the back of his mind he noted that they kind of reminded him of harmonicas but they sounded like screeching gears, rattling and churning. The noise of the machines made his ears ring and his hands wandered to his head, pressing against his temples, hissing in pain, before he could hear it speak up again.

“Zero.”

Bo screamed in irritation, shouting with a raw voice “Just tell me what you’re-…!!!”

With his mouth hanging slack open, he was unable to end the sentence as suddenly everything went white, the feeling of complete numbness taking over his body.

A moment before he had been standing in a pitch black room with blue lights pointing at him, and now he felt like floating, every single nerve in his body twitching, feeling like electricity flashed through it in high speed. It was only a small relief that the pain, which should have been unbearable, felt like being stung by a needle, his temples pounding erratically. It was mostly scary, terrifying, that a normal visit had come to this. Thoughts swam back and forth, what ifs and other questions tumbling around his head as he closed his eyes, tiredness taking over.

Trying to refocus, calmness flooded his body.

Energy was flowing around him and he could swear that he was able to grasp it, little, colourful squares that flashed in and out behind his closed eyelids. Noises of static assaulted his ears, his skin buzzing as if being swarmed by a horde of bees. His hair stood up, his nose started itching, his fingers were twitching and he was suddenly aware of his heart beat in his head, thudding loudly. He was certain that it was stuttering as well, the beating uneven, one beat, two beats, half a beat, and then nothing.

As soon as his heart had stopped he had blacked out, missing the entirety of the procedure.

He missed the splash of liquid hitting glass.

He missed the machinery clicking and groaning.

He missed the cracking sound of lightning.

And he missed the sound of two bodies hitting the ground.

“Separation complete.”


	2. Welcome To The World, Boys!

The computer was not silent after it had done its job.

On the contrary even, it was humming, clicking, the processor counting and calculating. Numbers were rushing down as it checked the vitals of the two individuals on the ground. As it did so, it stored away the two glowing sticks setting them neatly into their original spaces in the walls, scanning them further. The two bodies were still laying deathly still on the ground, not a single movement came as the computer cooled down, the only noise a static buzz.

After a round of hours one of the individuals finally woke up, his one hand twitching, before a moan left his mouth.

The first thing he did was start to cough, spluttering clear liquid out of his system, as he rolled to the side, his other pinned hand moving to lift him off the ground. He had to hunch over, still on his knees as he continued to hack, trembling as he tried to stop. Soon enough his lungs were free and he slid to the side, landing on his rear and shaking his head. His hand moved up to rub his face, only to knock them into a pair of glasses, his eyes widening in surprise.

“W-What happened?”

He moved both of his hands to his face and took the frames off, examining the thick, black plastic in a confused manner, before he noticed his arms, which were covered in a long sleeved shirt, brow lifting. Then he started to examine himself, staring at his legs, patting his cheeks, checking his square jaw line, letting a hand go through his hair and the longer he did so the more he felt in the wrong body. He was about to check his new glasses again, which had appeared out of nowhere, before he saw something from the corner of his eyes move.

His head turned and he encountered another man lying on the ground, body convulsing as the stranger started to cough just like he had done a few moments prior.

At first the one with glasses observed the other, for he had been sure he had been alone before, but then he furrowed his brows as he stood up slowly and stepped closer, regarding the one struggling with wary eyes. First thing he took notice of was the neon green hair the other sported, the next thing the clear, sky blue eyes that slid open in exhaustion.

“Aww shite…” the green head then cursed, a heavy accent of some kind leaving his mouth, making the standing one lift an eyebrow, before he moved his hand to his forehead, “A headache… I foken hate headaches…”

Another cough left him and he sat back, elbow covering his mouth and legs tucked to his chest, looking with one hand fruitlessly for a wall to keep himself steady. Soon enough the one on the ground took a look around the room, taking notice of the person beside him, thanks to the shoes that poked into his vision. With a start he looked up, face flashing to a shocked one. The next step he did was to jump away, or more like throwing his body back so he could get some distance in between them, his breath caught up in his throat. Panic and fear was written all over his face, while the other regarded him silently with a thoughtful expression.

Both stared.

Then slowly the one on the ground started to stand up, eyes locked on the one before him in slight mistrust, but he wobbled and he shot his arms out to balance himself. His eyes wandered down, tongue sticking out in concentration as he willed his legs to work. Then he stared at his hands, blinking before he let a hand pet his chest followed by his back, before he squished his cheeks. While he did so he took notice of his shirt, a frown coming as he missed the usual rolled up sleeves and he crunched up his nose in annoyance. But then his face lit up, smiling at the shoes he was wearing, which reminded him of the old ones he had as a child, the ones you did not have to knot but stick close with Velcro fasteners.

But the moment he faced the other man in the room his smile faded away and he took note that the other had bright, red hair, brown eyes clawing their way into his soul.

“Who are you?”

Both blinked as they flinched from the other, having said the exact same thing at the exact same time, the red head starting to frown harder, mouth forming into a fine line while the green head wrung his hands in nervousness. Neither of them knew what to expect from the other, the one with glasses already figuring out what happened, while the other just stared, blinking and wondering if he should sit down once more.

Before they could utter anything more or let the awkwardness really set in, the computer decided to chime in, confirming the red heads thoughts and confusing the green head even more.

“Isolation complete. You two are Bo’s left and right brain. We had to separate you in order to find a solution to your problem.”

The two glanced at each other from the corners of their eyes, silent as they took the news in, before the computer shined a light down to them, pointing it at the red head who shielded his eyes with an unimpressed look.

“This is Bo’s left brain: objective, logical, cold, analytical. His skills lay in science, math, language and reasoning. Aware of patterns, aware of trends, he’s efficient.” A slight pause, before it added: “And a prick.”

The green head could not help himself as he snickered, his fears replaced by amusement in an instant, while Left Brain gave him a calculating side glance. Soon enough the light moved and pointed to the other instead, the laugh caught up in his throat as he flinched his shoulders up in case something would drop on top of him.

“This is Bo’s right brain: subjective, creative, sensory. His skills lay in imagination, intuition, as well as music and art. Aware of feelings, aware of people, he’s emotional,” it expanded, only then to finish up with, “And an idiot.”

Right Brain eased his arms back in slight relief, while Left Brain stayed quiet about the situation, the green head murmuring hurt: “That’s an opinion… Careful with opinions…”

The computer clicked before it chirped in response: “Boys, play nice.”

“Now hold on, we are not done here,” Left Brain uttered instead, a deep voice emitting from him and making the green head blink in surprise, “What is our objective?”

“Objective is to help Robert Bo Burnham.”

“Not yours. Ours,” he clarified, hands in front of him as he stepped closer to the screen, “Robert has come here to fix his psychological state and not to be dichotomized into… this.” He pointed to him and the green head. “I seek to know what we have to do to reclaim our previous state. You cannot possibly think disbanding him into two beings will change anything.”

“I have initiated the process to help Robert Bo Burnham. Separation was needed.”

“This does not answer my inquiry.”

“I am helping Robert Bo Burnham.”

“You do not have to rephrase an explication when I am requesting for more information.”

The computer buzzed silently.

“I am helping.”

And no matter how long they stood there, the machine would not talk again, both men with varying sorts of thoughts running through their minds.

“So… uh. Ye are actually my… Bo’s! Bo’s left brain side, huh?”

The red head whipped his head around as he looked over his shoulder, fixing the other with an unimpressed look, who in the meantime glanced everywhere but him, hiding his eyes behind his bangs in embarrassment. Neither of them liked the situation they were in, the whole ordeal seemed and felt like a bad joke, but as it was, they were faced with the reality that the person they were, was gone.

It was a lot to take in in such a short time.

Right Brain still waited on a response, feeling intimidated by the sheer overflowing sense of detachment in his chest, trying to grasp the whole situation and failing, hoping to start off in good terms with the other. But his optimism was damped by the fact that Left Brain only let out a huff, gazing at him intensely, eyes wandering up and down.

It was as if he was judging him already.

Before Right Brain could ask him about it however Left Brain walked towards him and wordlessly grabbed his wrist, tugging him along towards the black entrance. Turning the knob and stepping through it, the red head did not show any indication that he was happy about the fact that they were able to leave besides letting out another gruff noise, making the green head tilt his head.

“Ya don’t like talkin’ anymore?”

“I take part in conversations when requested.”

“Well! Tell me about yerself!”

Left Brain stopped in his tracks immediately, his other half staggering into him with a small yelp, as he glanced down, just now realizing how much taller he was, and replying with: “Are you attempting to make casual conversation?”

“I mean, I kinda don’t know ya? Well, I do, we are Bo so you are Bo and I know Bo really well! Because I am him and we had that stuff going on and uhh… but now ya know… things are different…” He shrugged as he scratched his cheek in embarrassment. “Yeah, just wanna start new, wanna start somewhere.”

Instead of giving an answer Left Brain went to the computer that had greeted Bo as he had entered, taking the key board with one hand and starting to type, while Right Brain looked over his shoulder in confusion. The things the red head was writing were perplexing to him, a white tab that had opened in the bottom of the screen showing weird numbers, codes and signs. He was silent as Left Brain let go of him and took the mouse instead, watching as he tapped with it here and there, numbers being replaced or erased.

“I am the left brain,” the red head then suddenly started out of nowhere, making Right Brain jump a bit in surprise for he had been too preoccupied with trying to understand what the other was doing, “I work until our inevitable death.”

“That’s lovely!” Right Brain smiled, happy about the fact that the red head was willing to comply with his wish, following his other halves fingers, which were clicking the keys in an unfathomable speed, “Anythin’ else?”

“If you got a job to do, you have to do it right,” was the only response, as Left Brain clicked one of the symbols, continuing his work as Right Brain jumped up on the desk and took a seat to follow the work better.

“Yeah, ye always say that, I remember! Well, I’m Right Brain! I like Oreos and cats, exactly in that order, did ya know that?”

“I did.”

“I also made Bo cry while watchin’ Toy story 3, which was a good one, don’t ya agree? Woody was me favourite!” Right Brain added, poking his head in again to get a glimpse at the computer as it showed a list of names and notes, “Watcha doing?”

“I am figuring out how to get Robert back, what does it look like?”

“Yeah, makes sense! So any clues about that?”

Left Brain looked up from the screen and blinked at the green head, who was idly swinging his legs, smiling with a toothy grin. For a second the red head just stared, opening his mouth as if he wanted to say something, before he glanced back down in silence. Right Brain there while continued to wait, watching on, before after not too long he poked the other in the side, time and time again, tilting his head as if to repeat his question while Left Brain frowned.

“I just infiltrated the data bank of the computers research station,” he then answered, the poking that had persisted stopping, “As it seems we were not the first to be tested this method on.”

Right Brain’s eyes widened in surprise: “We weren’t?”

“Not at all, you heard the number.”

Right Brain let out a small “oh” as he remembered the conversation they had with the computer and he smiled brighter, “That means it helps, right? The splittin’?”

“Wade would have refrained from inserting Robert into this program if he had not seen positive results, would he have now?” Left Brain sighed, before he massaged the bridge of his nose, “What I gather from this is that the computer has specific terms of use and it will fuse us back together as soon as we have fulfilled those terms.”

“And which they are?”

Left Brain stood up as he closed the tabs he had opened and glanced back to the room they had emerged from, crossing his arms: “I do not know.”

“Ye don’t know?”

“I do not, no. There are no manuals or guides for this procedure. The human mind is a complex mass of muscles with varying chemical and electrical inputs. Every person operates with it differently, every individual has another matter to solve problems. So in this case Robert as well. As it is, we have a feeble understanding of what we are dealing with here.”

“Well, that fokin’ sucks.”

Left Brain looked back as Right Brain jumped off the table and circled around him so he could stand in front of the other, hands behind his back as he laughed: “Doesn’t matter! I guess we just have te figure it out on our own, huh?”

“That is the plan.”

“Lovely! But…” Right Brain’s smile faltered as he rubbed the back of his neck, “Where should we start, what do we do?”

Left Brain pointed to the clock on the wall, as he answered: “It is 8 in the morning, Friday. We have spent the entirety of the night being turned into two individuals, continued with us lying on the ground. My first propounding would be to find Wade and question him if he has any additional information on the matter.”

“Ya think he knows more about this place?”

“I cannot be sure, but he has registered us, additional I want to comprehend where he had received knowledge of this facility. I certainly never heard of it before and the citizens evidently seem to avoid it like the plague. It does not seem as if it was used in recent years. Where could he have obtained the fact that here lays a brain research laboratory, in the outskirts of the city, away from every living being?”

“The internet?”

Left Brain closed his eyes, as he gritted his teeth: “Probable.”

The green head tilted his head, before he grinned with bright eyes: “The Internet is a wild place!”

The other just sighed through his nose as he replied: “Let us head back to the station, Wade will surely be at work right now.”

As the red head went around the desk, Right Brain tagged right after him, jogging to his side to keep up, only then, as soon as they reached the entrance room, to let out a small gasp, stopping rigid in his tracks. Left Brain lifted a brow, ready to ask what was wrong, but the other cut him off, sprinting to the couch and jumping on it with a cheer.

After the initial 3 jumps, Right Brain turned halfway, laughing: “I’ve been right, Left Brain! It IS fun!!”

“People utilize couches to sit on them,” Left Brain remarked, arms crossing in front of his chest as he watched the other let out another whoop, “Get down from there, you are not seven years old.”

“I’m twenty-seven!”

“Twenty years too many, please get off.”

Right Brain frowned as he let himself be stopped by gravity, falling with his back on the pillows and rolling off, landing with his knees on the carpet. There he brushed with his hands over the material, grinning over the softness, before looking up to the table beside him, smiling even wider.

“Oh! Paper!”

Before Left Brain could protest that these were not their belongings, Right Brain had grabbed a magazine and ripped a sheet out of it, triumphantly shoving it to his other halves face.

“Look! Paper!”

“I see it,” Left Brain muffled, the sheet still pressing against his glasses as he took the offending arm and moved it down, gripping him by the wrist and staring dryly. “Now, this is a serious situation with serious consequences. Are you ready to face responsibility and read the warning signs or do I need to spell them out for you?”

“Oh! No, no I get it! Serious!” Right Brain just giggled, before he breathed out and changed his facial expression to a grumpy one, mumbling, “Serious…”

That was enough confirmation for Left Brain as he tugged the other by the arm, leaving the building, both of them walking down the street in hurried steps to escape the mad house.

Distance was made fairly fast, Right Brain staggering behind the other, losing balance once in a while, because of him looking around in a slight mix of awe and fear. One look at the sky showed that it was still early morning, the sky dark blue, purple, orange and red mixing in it like a whirlwind. White clouds littered the colourful expanse, the sun poking out and Right Brain could not help himself as he started to smile slightly again. But looking over Left Brain’s shoulder to the city, where the sky scrapers stood, made it waver again, glancing up and counting the windows. The city had never been his favourite place, he preferred the village with the forest, the lake, the people that took things easy and he glanced to the ground noticing the gravel he was kicking away from the asphalt, the grey colour glaring back at him.

For a second he wondered what the city would look like if the grey was replaced with different kind of colours, just to lighten the place up, but soon enough he gave up. Even if it was painted it would still be the city, were people work hard and everything was weird, fast, changing all the time. So instead he looked at the dry grass beside him, letting out a small remark.

“These are pretty.”

“Come again?”

“The flowers.”

“The flowers?”

“They are pretty!”

“An obvious as well as own opinion manifested observation, then. Those are chrysanthemums,” Left Brain provided as he let his eyes drift over to them with a bored stare, “They effloresce around this period.”

“What does effloresce mean?”

“It is the last stage of a flowers blooming progress.”

“What does that mean?”

“That they will die soon enough.”

That made the green head startle, sadness welling up in him, as he asked with a quiet voice: “Really? Why would it do that?”

“It has no choice,” he answered, his head snapping back in irritation as if to make sure the other was serious, “It is the beginning of autumn, if you had not noticed. Winter is approaching as well, the cold is taking hand. Flowers will easily wither away, how can that be complicated to you?”

At these words Right Brain’s demeanour changed, happiness draining from him, closing his eyes for a moment as he felt them tear up. The pure thought of the small petals having to leave so soon made his chest fill with dread, his mental eye already seeing them turn to dust. His heart shattered and the tears already started to roll, Left Brain glancing over his shoulder as he felt the other lessen his pace.

“Crying never helped anything,” he then coldly stated, “Stop that.”

“It’s sad. They are going to leave.”

“Sadness never helped anything.”

“But-…”

“Stop.”

And Right Brain nodded hastily, the force behind the word reconsidering him to go through with his sentence, as his hand brushed over his eyes. He also took notice of the magazine still in his free hand that was trying to push the tears back, and he stuffed it into his trouser pockets, the tiniest sobs leaving him through the whole procedure. Swallowing them down, he nodded harder while trying to regain his composure.

“Aren’t you sad?” he then asked timidly, the leak having stopped as fast as it had come, watching the other look pointedly away from him.

“No, I am not.”

“Why?”

Instead of an answer he only heard a grumble as he slumped further. Another tug broke him out of his melancholic musings as he realized that they were both standing by the timetable.

Pursing his lips at the numbers he tilted his head, puzzled.

“When’s the next bus comin’?”

Left Brain studied the map for a few seconds longer, still not letting go of Right Brain’s wrist, the other hand under his chin in thoughtfulness, before he said: “Should arrive speedily in a few minutes, we are in luck for once.”

Nodding was the answer as they both looked down the street, waiting for the bus to come, Right Brain slightly leaning back and forth to distract himself. It only took a few moments before the green head glanced up at Left Brain, squeezing his hand to get his attention with a grin.

“So we’re gonna go see Wade?”

“As said, yes.”

“We look all different now, nothing like Bo, right?” Right Brain stated, pointing to the other, “You got red hair now. What’re we gonna tell him?”

Left Brain narrowed his eyes, looking up as he took a strand and tugged it down to see for himself, before he let out a grumbling, irritated sound. He should have known after seeing his other half with coloured hair that he was not faring any better, so he shrugged, followed by him stating: “We will have to explain the entirety of our situation.”

“Okay.”

“Also your hair is green, just to add.”

“Wait, really?!”

Left Brain heaved a sigh as Right Brain followed his example and tugged strands down, only to screech in delighted happiness, smiling broadly at the discovery he had just made. His face lit up, left hand in his hair as he laughed, combing through it, before he grabbed the arm of the other with both hands and pulled him down.

“I have green hair!!”

Left Brain was still bending down, from the corner of his eyes watching as the bus approached, before looking over to Right Brain with half lidded eyes and responding with: “I know. Let go of me.”

Still excited but nodding Right Brain let his one hand fall from the other, as the bus came to a stop beside them. Soon enough they seated themselves, Right Brain by the window and eagerly staring out to see what was happening outside, while Left Brain leaned his head back and massaged the bridge of his nose. While driving Right Brain pointed things out around the city, the motorbikes, the drones bringing newspaper, late kids that were racing to school, anything that he deemed important. Which in hindsight was pretty much everything he could see, weirdly shaped buildings, potted plants, people in suits, robots and animals alike.

It had only been an hour and Left Brain could already tell, this whole mess was not going to be easy to solve. He just hoped they would get this over with soon, relying on their best friend to have a clue.


	3. Meet And Greet With Pappelcreek

Half an hour had gone by and Right Brain had never ceased talking in the entirety of it.

He was still sitting in the bus with his other half, rambling about the beautiful sunrise, the grass beside the street, the people walking around and Left Brain listened listless, keeping track of the bus directions and counting the minutes until they arrived. There were moments where the red head was poked, so Right Brain could confirm the other was attentive, or he was assaulted by noise as his right half pointed outside again and yet again, yelping, screeching or plain laughing. At first it was bearable for the left side, for the fact that Right Brain was not fond of the city, but after driving by the sign “Thanks for visiting Vinestone!” the green fields appeared, excitement seemingly flooding in the green head and forcing the need to let it all out.

Left Brain had to look out of the window time and time again to see what Right Brain meant, watching the scenery change. Grass fields, trees and farmland were following them as they drove by, a few barns here and there as hills started to well up from the ground. All kinds of animals roamed the plains, horses, cows, sheep, all of which the green head squealed at when he saw them, while Left Brain bit his tongue. Trees shot out of the ground, framing the street and they both knew it would not be too long until they reached their village.

Pappelcreek was not the most populated place, surrounded by hills and mountains, as well as a gigantic forest. If you looked down at the village from an airplane or took a map from the library you would consider the green woods resembling a gigantic crescent, cutting off the village to one side, while the other was an open gate towards the city. As it was also located in the middle of nowhere it was acknowledged as the last point of civilisation, behind the thick foliage of the forest nothing else of interest. No other cities nor villages, just gigantic snow covered peaks, and no one would ever think of going there. The forest was a tangled mess where no light shined through even when the sun was blazing.

The houses meanwhile stood in the centre of town or scattered around the main street, Right Brain peeking out yet again as they drove by them. He smiled wider as he finally was home again, turning back to Left Brain and shaking him by the shoulder.

“We’re back!”

“I know and please stay quiet,” Left Brain said in response, moving his glasses to set them right again after they have been knocked around, “We still have a fair amount of minutes until we can leave this vehicle.”

Right Brain nodded, only to glance out and shake Left Brain again, who in response let out a noise of discontentment, the woman that sat on the other side glancing at the two of them with an interested expression while the passengers further in front looked back at the weird pair.

But neither brain half noticed the stares as Right Brain shouted: “Do you see that!?”

“What?”

Right Brain pointed outside and the red head realized what he meant, his eyes half lidded.

Usually the village was an ordinary place with the main necessities every single village had, the square surrounded by the official post office, the bakery, the butcher, the grocery store and other shops. Some of them were tiny cafes, others were residential houses, most of them considered tiny by the city dwellers, but no less comfortable. A small fountain sat in the middle of that square, a great meeting place, and benches surrounding it so people could take a break there.

But this time the square, which was usually quiet at this hour for the fact that everybody either worked or was stuck in school, exploded with excitement. Lights were given to people on ladders who tried to decorate the trees, lanterns were crafted with paper and candles, while flowers were placed everywhere. Orange and yellow flags were hung around, on walls, on windows, between lampposts, everywhere were it was possible. Some people were walking around the square with different kinds of food, from apples, bread, ham to cheese and sweets as well as stacks of wood and fireworks to prepare a great fire.

“It is the autumn festival,” Left Brain finally provided, “They are preparing to celebrate the last days of warm climate before the golden season starts.”

“I forgot about that!!”

Left Brain had to rub his ear to get the ringing away that had emerged after the wail his other half had let out and he glanced around at the people who were watching them with different expressions. Some of them were smiling in amusement, others had lifted eyebrows as they wondered who they were, while a third group watched them with slight irritation. Right Brain was still on about excitedly chatting, explaining that he had forgotten how nice the place was when everybody was working together, still gripping Left Brain with an iron fist, while the red head frowned.

“It is enough now,” Left Brain then finally wiggled himself free, straightening the creeks in his flannel, “We are not here to celebrate, remember?”

“We aren’t?”

Left Brain narrowed his eyes at the fact that his other half had lost all focus on the task at hand, watching as he was scratching his head in confusion. As he tilted his head, trying to remember, Left Brain just closed his eyes, saying: “We are not. Now come on, it is time to get out.”

At the Pappelcreek Main Station they both looked around the busy village and Left Brain decided that it would be their best bet to get straight away to Dusk-Street, the café marking the last house before the pathway sloped down to the villages’ park. Right Brain nodded, clapping with his hands at the prospect of going there, as it was Bo’s, and so his, favourite place to get a meal, before taking Left Brain’s hand who led the way.

Dusk-Street was not far but you had to know your way around the village to get anywhere, as it was built like a labyrinth.

If you stood in the middle of the square, maybe on top of the fountain even, you would make out four distinctively bigger paths going off from the centre. If you had good eyes that is. The most obvious one led to Main-Street, the one the busses used to get where the city was. It was easy because if you followed the street with your eyes you could see the outlines of the city hovering over the hills in the distance, making it look like a distant sea of chrome and metal. If you had the city in your back though, you could make out a left side path, curling around the different houses, up the hill which led to the school and church, where the children disappeared, only to emerge by lunchtime and weasel through the village. To the right instead, if you followed the path under the stone viaduct you could reach the train station, not incredibly big, only one track, but a good march away to not bother the villagers. And even though Pappelcreek was fairly small, because of the complex interior busses made their rounds, bikes were pedalled to reach their destination and some people rolled with skates through the dwindling streets.

Lastly, in the opposite direction of the city, were the park, the lake and the forest, Dusk-Street one of the few straight paths that led there.

On their way Left and Right Brain had the liberty to watch the people work on perfecting the festival without being roped into doing a chore. It was almost refreshing to not get called after, but it also left a slight bitter feeling in Right Brain.

Walking beside empty stands, which were put up for later, both halves could follow people with their eyes, observing as they were carrying utensils and decorations. In all the commotion Right Brain saw some people he had not seen in a while, wanting to call out to greet them, but Left Brain tugged him back by his wrist, his other hand holding him back by the shoulder, stopping him from the various attempts.

Finally Left Brain had enough as he pointedly grumbled, squeezing Right Brain’s hand with restrained force: “You aforementioned it yourself, we differ in our appearance from Robert. We are strangers. So please stop shooting your arms out as if you want to pellet the villagers with hugs.”

“Can’t I just be friendly, Left Brain?”

“Please refrain from calling me Left Brain and being friendly, it is neither the place nor the time. We are surrounded by people, and if they hearken you calling me by my title, they will get suspicious. So please do not.”

“Hearken?”

“It means listen. Or more specifically eavesdrop.”

“Fancy.”

Then he shook his head.

“We could still help? Bo always helps out, it’s weird watching everybody work so hard.”

“We are in need of assistance ourselves, if you have already forgotten.”

Right Brain was about to protest, but Left Brain had already turned around, explaining his case as his other half reluctantly followed so he would not be tugged after.

“We are merely here because we have to discover how to prevent these temper tantrums. Adding to that conclusion, we are here to find Wade to perceive with what we are bargaining with, can you understand so far? I hope you agree on that level with me.”

“Those were a lot of fancy words.”

“Excuse me?”

“Lots of fancy words, I kinda lost track!”

Left Brain sighed: “I will have to remind myself to not use more than 3 syllables on a single word.”

“What are syllables?”

“Dismiss what I said. 2 syllables.”

Another sigh.

“Do you want Robert back?”

“Of course!” came the reply at lightning speed, “I want Bo back!”

“Good. So you agree with me that we have to go on carefully? That we have to think our actions through and do not randomly greet and/or hug people, because they do not know us anymore?”

Right Brain hesitated, before he answered: “Yes?”

“That is all I wanted to hear, good job.”

Right Brain smiled at the praise, feeling a bubble of happiness rise in him for having answered correctly, before it suddenly burst and let him cheer, both hands shooting upwards for the fact that he was seeing the café Wade worked at in the distance. Left Brain missed the chance to grab his other half by the collar to prevent him from sprinting off, his hand having been thrown away, so he just let out a small curse and raced after him, both of them reaching the entrance in record speed. There Left Brain noticed by a single glance that the café was closed, the sign on the door prominent, but before he could put that knowledge on Right Brain the green head had already ripped the door open.

Left Brain wanted to protest, but his counterpart had already disappeared inside, his shoulders sagging.

To no one’s surprise but Right Brain’s was the place empty, him glancing around, his hand wandering to his cheek as he scratched it in confusion, eyes drifting from one side to the other.

The café itself was not incredibly special either, round, black tables with fitting chairs, red and blue stripes covering the wall and coffee machines lining the back of the room. It was a wide space and with one glance you could count the amount of people sitting in there, if anybody had been here. While Left Brain glanced outside to see if anybody had noticed them barging in, Right Brain went to the bar, putting his hands on the desk and leaning forwards. He could not see anything of his interest, just bags and cartons with various fruits and vegetables, as well as shelves with silver ware. He did however see a small bell at the edge of the window, cutting off the kitchen from the dining room, the one at the desk able to call behind if a meal had to be done.

Naturally his curiosity took over and he reached out, over the desk to the window and let his hand fall on top of the bell, tongue sticking out, while Left Brain, who had been busy closing the door, flinched. The sound was crystal clear, echoing in the empty space, both halves waiting for something to happen.

And promptly they were rewarded with a shout, going: “NO VISITORS TODAY, CAN’T YOU READ???”

Right Brain almost toppled over the desk, just barely holding on to the window as behind it a head full of dark brown curls emerged, a chubby face following and glaring at him with puffed out cheeks.

A woman in her mid-forties stood there, burning brown eyes gazing at the two of them, the saying “If looks could kill” emerging in Left Brain’s head while Right Brain stared up with a shocked expression. Nobody made or spoke a word for a few moments, each of them trying to grasp the situation, before Left Brain grabbed Right Brain by his shirt and pulled him back. The green head was a bit out of it, so he was still grasping the window, Left Brain using a bit more force, resulting in his counterpart letting go, falling backwards and right into the red head, who caught him by a hair. Both stood for a moment like that, Left Brain holding the other under his armpits, before he let the other fall in a quick movement, his hands beside him as Right Brain landed with a thud.

While Right Brain glared up, the woman had watched everything with careful eyes, opening the door from the kitchen right after and rushing into the dining hall, holding her broom in her hands as if ready to attack.

After the initial scare however was Right Brain literally and metaphorically speaking back on his feet, still furious for being thrown to the ground by gravity but cheerful to see her, about to greet the woman Bo had known his whole life. Lifting his arm he was about to say something, before Left Brain slapped his own hand over the other’s mouth, stopping him in his tracks and apologizing instead.

“Sorry, miss, but we were not meant to be rude. We did not read any sign outside, for we would not have thought of entering the establishment otherwise.”

“Well, for heaven’s sake!” she responded, still aggravated, “You could have at least knocked, scaring me like a silly!” Then she let the broom slightly sink as she added with a sigh: “Did my lazy dog of a nephew forget to put the closed sign out again?”

Right Brain glanced up at Left Brain who glanced back at Right Brain, both then nodding vigorously.

“I see then, anyway…” the woman breathed out, her feet tapping the ground in restlessness, “The store is closed, everybody is preparing for the festival and there are on one hand no customers and on the other hand no workers. This place doesn’t clean itself up either.”

“May I ask why your employees are not here to help you?” Left Brain interrupted, trying to fish for the information he needed, watching out to not flare her anger up again as well, “Because I do believe you are the chef of this local, judging by your presence here. Would it not be more logical if they assisted you first?”

The woman looked the two over with wary eyes as she slowly went to the bar, putting her broom on the counter, before she put her hands on her hips, the apron, which was tightly bound around her, swaying. She was silent as she glanced at the two of them with observing looks, Left Brain still pressing his hand against the other’s mouth as she tilted her head in puzzlement.

“Now you sound like a really smart guy, using big words like that,” she then finally responded, before rolling her eyes and shrugging, “Those employees you are talking about have heavier, more important things to do than swing a broom around. The café has time.”

“Well, everybody is doing a lovely job! It already looks super pretty outside!” Right Brain nodded, as he swiped Left Brain’s hand away and grinned, “I reckon I’ve never seen that many flags around like this year!”

“This year?”

“We have visited before,” Left Brain provided, as he used his hand to press it down Right Brain’s head to keep him from jumping, “We do enjoy staying here as it is a joyful, relaxing place, miss.”

“So you two are obviously returning tourists, huh? Weird, never seen you guys before and that’s pretty impressive for I have a gossiping gold mine right here,” she wondered, then smiled, sticking her hand out, “And miss sounds so old, the kids call me that. Call me rather Fiona, or Teddy, whatever suits you more. Nice hair by the way.”

“Thanks!” Right Brain laughed, sticking his arm out and shaking hers with enthusiasm, “Green is ma favourite!”

Left Brain rolled his eyes, still holding the other down, as he then stated: “I am sorry to interrupt and be so straight forward, but we have actually entered your restaurant in search for someone. We have hoped to find Wade, for we have a really important matter to discuss with him.”

“Really? With him?” Teddy widened her eyes in surprise. “You mean our Wade? Well, get me the devil. I didn’t think he would keep up with his city days and have connections outside of town! He rarely talks about his college days anymore either…. oh! Are you actual friends of his?”

“Of course we are!” Right Brain grinned as he was about to explain the situation, “You know, Teddy, we are…-!”

“We made his first acquaintance a long time ago and we had hoped to find him here at work,” Left Brain butted in before he added, “As it is, he is not to be found here and it would be of crucial help if you could point us a direction we could head off to. If it is not too much to ask, we are in a bit of a hurry here.”

“We are?” Right Brain chimed in.

“Yes, we are,” Left Brain nodded, letting go of the other in favour of crossing his arms.

The restaurant chef just looked up to the ceiling in thought, before she closed her eyes, leaning her weight to one side, and then explained: “Well, some people were called to work on decorating, some were called for food preparation and some were called for a bigger project. If I remember right, he was asked to go up to the church to hang up lights. He’s one of the tallest in town and we only have so many high ladders. But don’t quote me on that.”

“That is already enough,” Left Brain said, nodding a bit, “Thank you for your help.”

Right Brain jumped a bit at that, as he cheered: “Yeah! Thank you!”

She smiled slightly, as she put her hand on her hips: “Glad I could help.” Then her face changed to an annoyed one. “Well, if you are going to search for him, then I don’t have to tell you to get out. I love visitors, especially paying ones, but I really am in a rush, you know?”

“Of course, we understand. We will leave right away and change the sign outside as well so you will not be interrupted again.”

“My nephew has only mischief in his head, can’t even turn a sign, unbelievable…” Teddy sighed, “Kids these days.”

Right Brain was about to retort with a smile on his own, but Left Brain took his wrist and was already marching out of the door, saying over his shoulder: “Kids do have their own minds, do they not? Now, goodbye, Miss Fiona, we have matters to attend to.”

And with that the weird pair was back on the street, Teddy slightly confused about the whole thing before she took the broom from the counter, shrugged and continued to swipe. The two halves meanwhile were almost fleeing the café, Left Brain on one hand dead set on finding Wade, Right Brain on the other hand uncomfortable with the way the other held his arm and stumbling over his feet.

“Left Brain, please, ye’re too fast.”

“I have told you to avoid calling me that, did I not?”

“But ye’re hurting me, ma legs aren’t that long, I can’t keep up.”

Slowing down, Left Brain glanced at the other, who took his hand back and shook it out with an irritated grunt. Pain flashed across his face, as he stepped away, rubbing his wrist while casting his eyes back to the café, mumbling confused: “Ya didn’t change the sign like ye said you would. Should we go back?”

“The sign was already showing closed, but you barged in anyway, that is why I wanted to warn you in the first place.”

“It did?” Right Brain blinked, his head tilting, before he gasped: “But that means ya lied to Miss Teddy, didn’t ye?”

“I did.”

Right Brain started to frown at his other half as he processed the information, sudden anger rising in him: “Ya can’t just lie to Miss Teddy, and that to ‘er face! Remember the last time Bo did?! I thought we would never get that shop clean, I can’t even imagine what she will do if she finds out that Bo lied again! Again, Left Brain!”

“Robert did not lie. I did. So the consequences of being punished are minimal to non-existent.”

“But…!”

“It does not matter anymore, what is done is done.”

“Still doesn’t make it any better that ye lied… Lying is the fokin’ worst,” Right Brain mumbled defeated, before he rubbed his arm again, adding sombrely, “And why do ye always tug so hard? I have ears, ye can just tell me where we go and I can walk there meself, ya know?”

Left Brain did not hesitate after that proposal, as he pointed with his thumb over his shoulder, responding with: “We are going to church.”

Right Brain looked up: “Are we gonna go pray?”

“What?”

“What are we doin’ at church if not pray?”

Left Brain massaged his temples as he then pointed to the building on the hill again, before he held his hands in front of him in a disbelieving manner: “Wade is there, have you already forgotten?”

“Oh! Yeah I did…” Right Brain realized, as he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, “I was so focused on Teddy and her fighting pose! She was actually gonna beat us with a broom when we went in, haven’t seen ‘er riled up like that in a while! Even though she got pretty old she still can intimidate us, huh?”

“To be truthful, I certainly thought she would kick us out as soon as she saw us standing there. It would not have been the first time.”

“Don’t remind me…” Right Brain sighed as he shuddered, “Please don’t…”

“I will not,” Left Brain assured, “Now, come along. The longer we dwell here the less of a chance we have to catch Wade.”

But to his confusion Right Brain flinched as he reached out to grab his wrist, the red head lifting an eyebrow.

“It actually really hurts when ya tug me around. Like, you really put a lotta pressure on it…” Right Brain then mumbled, embarrassment flooding his voice, holding his hand to his chest, “Just… I’m sorry.”

Left Brain hesitated first as he tried to understand, then took a slight double take, stopping in his tracks as Right Brain looked up at him, blinking. Staring at his hand, the red head’s eyes narrowed as he seemed to debate a thought, Right Brain watching him nervously, not knowing what to expect.

“I see. I will not anymore then.”

A pause.

Then Left Brain shook his head as he called out instead: “Hurry up and follow me, you are burning daylight.”

Right Brain nodded instantly, jogging forward to walk beside his other half, grateful he was not dragged around anymore. A hint of freedom spread in his chest and even though the other seemed reserved with him, he did just listen to him, the hope sparking that the whole procedure was already working. Right Brain’s step got lighter by that idea, as he started to set his focus on his surroundings, starting to ramble, while Left Brain tried to block the noise.

They were back to where they began, same goal in mind as before, but now with another direction.


	4. Gaining Names

They were almost back at the square and Left Brain has found a method in keeping Right Brain successfully quiet.

As he had been fed up after a few minutes of the green head pointing out various decorations, he had proposed a self-made game between them, Right Brain jumping at the idea. So now they were playing Who can stay quiet? the goal not to let a single sound out until the other gave up. Both were faring incredibly well, Right Brain concentrated on keeping his mouth shut, while Left Brain was a natural.

It was an easy feat to reach the border of the village centre, but there was so much disarray everywhere that both brain halves had trouble getting to the path which would lead them to church, hidden behind people, stands and crates. As Left Brain pointed out a small gap where they could squeeze through the crowd, Right Brain nodding along, sudden commotion went off, both of them stopping in their tracks. At first they ignored the noise for it was common for people to get excited on days like these, but soon enough the people around them suddenly turned heel, running in different directions, villagers tumbling around in the distance, as if trying to escape.

Not too long after that realization hit, a gigantic group of people ran their way, feet stomping the ground passing them in a rush and Right Brain grabbed on to Left Brain in slight panic. Both stood still as familiar as well as faces of strangers passed them by, dust being whirled around, the two of them in a sea of screeches and screams. While Left Brain took it as his cue to march on to get to the path, Right Brain was still clamping his hands around his arm, trying to see what caused the chaos.

“Left Brain, what’s goin’ on?” Right Brain mumbled intimidated, forgetting about the game, as he tried to look over the people, “I can’t see anythin’!”

The other was looking around as he tried to figure out just that, before he noticed that the crowd had moved so it would be gathered around the fountain. From the windows people threw buckets down into waiting arms of neighbours while others sprinted out of their homes and helped form a colon which led from the fountain to Main Street. Now that everybody was standing organized the both brain halves could finally see, Left Brain sighing and dropping his shoulder as he understood.

“There is a fire somewhere.” 

“What?!” his other half screeched, “Again?!?”

Left Brain nodded, finally able to notice the black smoke rising to the sky, the sound of a tell-tale fire creaking and crackling in the distance. Sadly a known sound around this village. The red head shook his head, hand over his eyes as he sighed: “What do you think? What combusted?”

The green head let go of the other, as he blinked, before answering: “Either a trash can or one of the pipes.”

“Random guess?”

“Yeah.”

“Well. It could be. Fiona did say people were working on an arduous, new project as well. Maybe she did not mean the festival but a new construction site. It could be that something malfunctioned in their effort. Once again.”

“That would be sad.”

Both of them stared back at the smoke.

“Maybe Wade’s there?”

“Possible.”

“Wanna take a look?”

Left Brain tilted his head as he weighed his options, deciding that they could still go to church afterwards. He was curious to see what damage had been caused and also what initially caused the fire itself. The colon was already dispersing, the people on the roofs starting to yell out that everything was under control. Still the two brain halves made their way there, only to realize that they actually guessed wrong.

One of the fireworks had ignited itself by accident, as it had been too close to one of the lanterns that were being crafted, devouring a whole stack of wood and a stand with flames. Now that the fire was out, the ground was powdered black, ash and pieces of wet, singed wood laying in a pile, the burnt smell covering the area in a thick blanket. The good thing was that it did not burn anything else, no house was in vicinity and no person was harmed, just the stone plastered ground was darker. The lantern that had caused the damage was already gone, the only thing staying the molten metal of the cap used for hanging it up.

As is was carelessly left alone the culprit was soon enough found, the schoolgirl in question currently being reminded yet again that her actions had consequences, the yells that came from the teacher above her making Right Brain flinch.

The crowd around the rest of the fire moved in favour of surrounding the girl and the woman, slightly uncomfortable but not really knowing if they should leave. Some of them watched on, annoyed with the girl, others wore faces of sympathy as the child had her head lowered, hands behind her back and a tight frown on her face as she was being yelled at.

“I didn’t do it on purpose!” she then finally screeched, looking up, “I would never think of it!”

“Then why does trouble occur whenever you are around?!”

The 8 year-old tugged her blonde hair behind her ears and let her shoulders fall, before mumbling with a pout: “I don’t know, maybe trouble likes me…”

“Nina, I beg you, this is serious! You caused three fires this year, those are three too many! Not to mention all the little accidents around the village that didn’t get out of hand!” the teacher above her groaned, as she then pointed to the burnt wood again, “And today of all times! This was your doing! Now we have to drag even more wood up here and will lose even more time!”

Slight whispers of agreement arose while others hushed them, saying that this would not help, Left and Right Brain looking around with curiosity. Neither of them enjoyed the fact that Nina, their little neighbour that loved to climb walls and trees and who occasionally tapped on Bo’s window to say “Hi!” while doing that, was getting in trouble again. Right Brain’s face fell further as he saw how tears sprung to her eyes, his own burning a bit.

“I’m sorry…” Nina let out in a whimper, stepping from one foot to the other, “I really didn’t mean to, it just happened…”

“It doesn’t matter anymore, anyway,” she sighed, straightening her blouse, “Your parents will surely find out as soon as they come back from Vinestone, so I will leave it at that. Enough yelling for one day.”

Nina just nodded, hair falling in front of her eyes as she brushed it back again, moving her wrist under her eyes in the process, before she was ushered to the other children. The crowd finally separated as well, leaving the two halves standing there, watching as the girl talked with her classmates, those either mocking or comforting her. Right Brain felt the need to go over and ask if she was feeling alright, but Left Brain stopped him before he could set a single foot to her direction.

“Come now, we lost enough time.”

“Don’t ya want to check if Nina’s fine, Left Brain? She did just get pretty humiliated, didn’t she?”

“She did, but it was probably for the best. She does have to learn to be more aware of her surroundings,” the red head responded, adding, “And again, do not call me Left Brain.”

Right Brain was about to protest, face crunched up in annoyance, but Left Brain shushed him, pointing back as they saw how the class retreated, working on decorating the streets after the incident. Still the green head seemed incredibly displeased as he crossed his arms, pouting while Left Brain rolled his eyes. Instead of reminding Right Brain of their task he asked if they wanted to play something else to make the time shorter until they reached their destination, Right Brain seemingly shaken out of his moodiness and smiling brightly in response. At first Right Brain wanted to play something more challenging, having hide or seek in mind, but then retaliated after the look his other half had given him. Then his eyes lit up a second time as he suggested they should do “I spy with my little eye”, Left Brain going with it.

Soon enough they had spied a green apple, which stood at the starting corner on their way up on a stand, a silver trashcan marking one of many curves, blue flowers that blossomed on the windowsills of the small houses they passed and many more objects following. Plants, clothes of passer-by’s, animals and other items were listed, while coming closer to the pointy tower on top of the hill, which overlooked the whole village. Left Brain was about to ask if the crow was the thing that his other half had spied as black, but was then surprised as the green head stopped, taking in something Left Brain had not seen yet.

For a moment they stood together, before Left Brain asked: “What is it?”

Right Brain smiled, as he pointed and responded with: “I spy with ma little eye somethin’ colourful!”

Left Brain looked up again as he followed the outstretched arm, staring at the church, trying to find out what the other meant. Before long he tilted his head, asking anew: “I do not understand what you are pointing at. What exactly is on that building colourful? It is pitch black.”

“Not the church, silly! To the right!”

The red head had to step to the other side so he could view the angle of the building better and, as soon as he did, was bewildered to see a whole group of people standing together, decorating the trees surrounding the cemetery.

The church was impressive by itself, a coal black clock tower with golden and blue carvings and red glassworks for its windows. The entrance was massive and behind it both knew stood a room with benches, an organ and one single cross at the far end, intimidating anybody who stepped in. Beside the church on its right side, stood the school, leaning on to it. That building was black as well but there the windows were comical to look at, thanks to the children having but up little paper decorations and stickers. The school was small, the older students leaving for the city, but for the younger ones this was the perfect place to run about. Which was not always desired, the cemetery stood right beside it and the children often lost their respect, going in there to play.

Today however not only the children walked dangerously close to the graves, but adults as well.

Flowers and lights were prettying up the usual gloomy place and most of the villagers were talking and wondering how they could set everything up to make it even livelier. Both Left and Right Brain looked around, on one hand watching the unusual preparations with wide eyes, but also trying to spot their friend in the mass. After having walked up and down the place, walking in circles, glancing over the huge amount of heads blocking their view, they had to give up, no single hair of Wade to be found. Noticing wood pillars, crates and metal pipes being transported towards them, having to jump out of the way, they decided that he was not here and Left Brain pondered what to do next.

Right in that moment one of the villagers took notice of them, she walking by with a bunch of flowers in her arms, her face showing curiosity and making her way up to them. Right Brain noticed her first, a sudden jolt forcing him to move himself behind Left Brain, who, standing with his hand on his chin in a thoughtful manner, lifted an eyebrow.

“I’m sorry, no visitors allowed in this area for today. Are you looking for something you two?”

Left Brain, still focused on Right Brain who was hiding behind him as if he wanted to disappear, lifted his eyes away from the green head and greeted the approaching woman, giving a small nod.

“Indeed we are. We have heard an associate of ours would be here,” Left Brain said, letting his eyes roam behind her, “But still no sight of him.” He sighed. “May I ask, how well you are acquainted with the inhabitants?”

She frowned a bit, trying to balance the flowers to one arm so she could scratch her cheek, answering with a little, embarrassed smile: “Gosh, I wouldn’t call myself an expert, but I do know most. I do help out at the town hall sometimes for paper work, so I do catch some names here and there.”

“You did maybe catch the name of a fellow called Wade?”

“Oh! So you’re searching for him?” she replied with a soft smile, “Lucky you, I know Wade pretty well! A friend of mine actually!” Then she sagged her shoulders dejectedly. “You guys missed him by a second really… He had just finished helping us and said he would go down to the square. I don’t know where he would have gone from there though. Sorry.”

“That’s alright,” Right Brain piped in, making her jump, “He’s like a weasel anyway, it’s hard to keep track of him.”

She blinked a bit, the green head timidly hiding behind Left Brain once more, before she giggled, replying: “I’m still sorry I can’t help. You must have been looking for him for a while, huh?”

“Hours!” was Right Brain’s answer, starry eyed, Left Brain watching as his counterparts cheeks burned red and a smile appeared on his face.

For that he got a light knock to the shoulder, both brain halves glaring at each other for a moment.

“It is not a tragedy, miss. We will surely find him, thank you for your time,” Left Brain decided to say, shaking his head afterwards, as he added to the woman transfixing him, “This place is off limits to visitors, may I wonder why?”

She only replied with a small, mischievous grin: “Oh. That is a surprise. Only villagers may know.”

“I guess that is a fair answer,” he sighed, “If you do see Wade, can you tell him that Vinestone Hospital send us? He will know where to meet us.”

“Um… sure? Sure, I can do that,” she hesitantly replied, a hint of uneasiness written on her face, before she added, “Well, I’m Samantha!” She pointed to their heads. “Your hair colours are pretty neat.”

Right Brain grinned even wider at the compliment, but Left Brain had to cut her off, replying: “I am sorry, Samantha, but can we discuss our hair another time? We are in a bit of a rush.”

Her cheeks flooded red as she giggled, responding with a small stutter: “Ah sorry… I- I just get really excited when people do something for their appearance. It really suits you both, honestly!”

“Thanks!” Right Brain nodded swiftly as he glanced up at his other half, “People really notice it, huh?” Then he looked back to Samantha, stepping a bit forward. “I’m sure you would look good with some pink strands as well, would complement your beautiful hair!”

Sammy giggled even more, shoulders up to her ears, a few flowers falling to the ground, before she responded: “That’s a really sweet thing to say! I d… don’t hear that often!”

Left Brain just shook his head as he grabbed Right Brain by the back of his shirt, moving him slightly away from Samantha. Then he picked up the flowers that had fallen to the ground and put them back where they belonged, nodding.

“I am sure my acquaintance here did not mean to embarrass you. I think as well it would suit you very much, but we do have to make our leave,” Left Brain added in, slowly stepping back, “Again, thank you for the help.”

“No problem!” she beamed, “I’ll remember to tell Wade! Good luck!”

And back they were to zero, both brain halves making their way down, as Right Brain peeked back, following her with his eyes, as she was taking the flowers to one of the stands. His heart was beating a bit faster, suddenly a skip in his step as he tried to order his thoughts.

Bo knew her.

Knew her from back in Kindergarten. From hours and hours on the playground, playing stupid pranks, exploring the village with his two best friends.

Knew her from hours in college. Having met her after years of having neither seen nor heard her after she had moved. Sitting in the grass and playing guitar while she had walked by and waved at him, his eyes going wide as he recognized her.

From hours in the café, where Wade always invited both of them in a desperate attempt to get them together and getting increasingly more frustrated that Bo was not taking any steps.

Bo knew her.

And Right Brain was quite happy with having seen her as he huffed out a small, warm sigh, trying to keep up with Left Brain, who was practically marching down the trail.

“Why didn’t ye ask her how she was doin’?”

“For what purpose?”

“I would have liked to know.”

“That knowledge would not have been of importance.”

“But it would have been nice of us.”

Then he sighed again, as he jumped beside Left Brain, kicking his feet out and small clicks resonating.

“Can we take a break?”

Left Brain looked over his shoulder: “A break?”

“Ma legs hurt, we’ve been walkin’ around the whole village and we climbed the hill. Can we sit down somewhere, Left Brain?”

“Do not call me Left Brain,” the other replied, “And we do not have time for breaks. You already wasted our time with hovering around the female. Wade will vanish again if we do not go now.”

“Female?”

“She is, in fact, female.”

“Come on… That was Sammy! We know her, you shouldn’t call ‘er that.”

“However Samantha does not know us. She knows Robert and he was not present in this conversation so I reacted as it was appropriate. And as the situation also calls we cannot be distracted by her from our mission.”

“Doesn’t give ya the right to call her a blank female,” the green head whined before he let out a breath, “At least let me take a break, please. I’m really tired…”

“You have to be joking, it has been merely…”

The clock behind them chimed its bells and both of them glanced up as they saw the hands of the clock pointing 3PM, both frowning for different reasons. After a few moments Right Brain glanced back at the other as he silently hoped for his counterpart to listen, voicing it with a: “Please…?”

“…Fine,” was the answer, “Fine, let’s sit down for a short while.”

Near one of the curves stood a stone bench, perfectly fit between a few bushes and both of them sat down, Right Brain letting out a relived sigh while Left Brain crossed his arms, looking away and pondering where his friend could have run off to this time. While they let their feet rest, Right Brain looked around with a new sense of awe. He knew everything in and out, he lived here his whole life, but now the colours seemed even more vibrant, he was aware of the smell of nature around him, his ears picking up sounds he had not heard in seemingly forever. A sense of calm set in and exploded into excitement as he realised that this was the perfect moment to talk a bit with Left Brain.

They had not really had the chance to actually talk, more one-sided conversations on his part. In the bus he had tried to engage Left Brain and while playing as well, but the other did not seem thrilled by small talk. He did not seem too fond of it, as he had said, engaging in conversation if needed, which was a real shame.

But! Maybe he just had to start anew!

So he put his hands on his legs, stretching his body out as he took a big, happy breath, saying: “Pretty lovely day, isn’t it, Left Brain?”

The other shook himself out of his thoughts as he glanced at his other half from the corner of his eyes, a slightly sharp edge lacing his voice: “Do not call me that.” Then he sighed. “If you mean the weather, certainly. If you mean our situation, I doubt it.”

“I guess walkin’ around does tire out, huh?”

Left Brain stared down the path: “I did not mean the walk. Robert has gone through, to say the least, a science experiment. We were made. What is great about this?”

“That we’re alive?”

“How uplifting.”

“Isn’t it, Left Brain?”

Right Brain smiled as he laughed at his own statement, only for the other to fold more into himself, a cold wave seemingly wafting off of him. It was hard for him to relate to the green heads positive attitude, Left Brain folding his hands together in thought.

Wrapping his mind around the fact that they were split apart was excruciating. It sounded ridiculous, preposterous, and plain unbelievable. More so the fact that it should help with Bo’s predicament. What should they learn out of this? There was something both of them had to do, something specific, something to give proof to the computer that it should fuse them together again.

But what?

What did they need to do?

While he pondered, Right Brain swung his legs a bit as he grinned.

“So what do ya think? How long will we be like that, Left Brain?”

“As we have found out it is a matter of time. I do not know. I hope we will return into our orderly state before long.”

“Before long like hours long or like days long?”

“I yearn to say we will be back to our amalgamated state in a few hours, but I have to say the genuine answer is that it could turn out to be days, yes.”

“So days long, huh? That’s actually a long time, Left Brain.”

“Do not call me that. I told you.”

“I guess we’ll make the best out of it?”

Left Brain nodded: “We will have to. There has to be a way.”

“Yeah!” he agreed, but then suddenly mused, “Still nice though to talk to ya like that!”

“I do not see the appeal.”

“I think it’s great! Ye are much more fun like this! Just ma opinion.”

The red head glanced at him sideways before he shook his head: “Of course.”

“Am I more fun like this?”

“You are more of a hassle like this.”

“I can live with that!”

Left Brain sagged with his shoulders as silence hung around them, Right Brain following a few birds that suddenly had jumped away from a bush to fly away, moving his focus away from his other half. But he could not quite take the breather he wanted as Right Brain turned back to him.

“Well, this sure is exciting!” Right Brain added to his words from before, hands clasped around his knees as he laughed, “I’m glad we have a chance to talk face to face Left-!”

“DO. NOT. DARE!”

This time the red head responded roughly, loudly so the other would actually stop pestering him, as his hands forced themselves on the others mouth, shushing him immediately. Staring at him with a cold, steady glare, burning his gaze into the other he kept his position, almost daring him to make a sound. But Right Brain just sat there unmoving as he watched his counterpart with not shock but curiosity, still trying to process that he had been silenced.

The next step took Left Brain again as he added with gritted teeth: “No.”

“Jesus, Left Brain!” Right Brain responded finally as he wiggled himself free, throwing the hand from his face and crunching up his nose. Slight annoyance but also disappointment crossed his face, leaning forward as he stared at the other. “I didn’t even start yet!”

The one with glassed just pushed them up, as he composed himself once more, brushing his clothes. “You absolutely cannot call me Left Brain. We are in public.”

Right Brain blinked a bit, and then blinked some more as Left Brain moved his flannel so it would be back in its earlier condition, trying to ease away the wrinkles as he then glanced up. There he pointed to his head, carding through the red locks as he grumbled: “We are already sore thumbs out here. Look at our hair.”

A bit taken aback Right Brain took a strand as well, understanding that the other was not as fond as him by their new hairstyle. He leant forward as well as he lifted his hand up and murmured, repeating himself: “Yeah… I kinda like it actually?” He glanced to the side as Left Brain stared at him with concealed disdain by the obvious choice of his words, Right Brain adding: “But I guess we need names, real names…”

“Exactly,” Left Brain just sighed, fixating the other with a mix of boredom and accusation, his hands which had been up in his hair to fix it, in his lap again, “But do not even consider using anything close to Robert or Bo.”

“W-what!??” was the only thing the right half could muster, “Why??”

Left Brain huffed in irritation as he turned away from him, arms crossed as he answered with an almost sickened voice: “Imagine the confusion! If we go around calling us Robert, what if we meet someone we know? What if we slip up?”

They did already meet up with people they knew and Right Brain realized how close he had gotten to doing just that. He could not wrap his mind around the fact why Left Brain did not want that to happen, to tell people they were Bo, but the confusion part ringed true, he thought.

“Plus…”

Right Brain glanced up as he saw the other slouch down, his cold, harsh voice giving away to something more calculating, hard almost. It sounded as if the statement he was about to make was an unmoving fact, his voice betraying nothing about if he was glad or angry about it. Right Brain tilted his head trying to see the other in the eye, to find out what the other was thinking, but he could only hear him mumble. Watching as the red head gripped the stone underneath him, knuckles turning white, Right Brain’s face fell.

“In this form we are not Bo. We are each our own person.”

That hurt.

That statement did actually really hurt.

Both knew of course that they were not Bo anymore, they were parts of him, yes, but they could never take his place or try to be him. They could never be Bo alone, there was a stack, a piece, an essence missing. Something indescribable, something that neither of them could grasp. It was a strange, uncomfortable feeling, one that left them both with unease, the knowledge that they were something different then before, just by default. Neither of them felt like Bo, they felt like they were just people, trying to bring him back, feeling like they were picked from somewhere and thrown into this mess. They had initiated it together, they knew they were Bo, but it felt far away, foggy if anything.

Right Brain’s head jerked up as he saw the other rise to his feet, seemingly wanting to end the conversation here and now, so the smaller of them jumped up as well. He felt the tenseness in the air and he put his hand on his own neck, watching as the other had his neutral expression on. It seemed as if Left Brain stood with his words, naturally, knowing he was right, having simply told the truth. So Right Brain took the leap, deciding to leave the topic of their crisis and move it to something that was more pressing.

“Anyway…! Did ya already think of names then?”

“In fact I did,” came the reply as he looked down at the other, “I will call you Jack. You have a clearly Irish accent and it is the most Irish name I know.”

The other perked up as he tried to register the words. He had not really been aware of the fact that he had an accent, but now it hit him, like out of the blue. His mouth turned into an oh-shape as he afterwards cheekily grinned, even though he would never have thought of a name like that. He had to say, it already grew on him. And if Left Brain thought that was a good one he could live with that as well!

The next words did put a damper on the name however.

“You are also as empty as a jack-o’-lantern so it fits.”

Left Brain did not sound smug or teasing, it was once again a fact that he stated, his voice laced with boredom and disinterest. The name was a logical conclusion, autumn was drawing near, pumpkins and lanterns everywhere. It had risen in him the knowledge from back when Bo was in 6th grade, the jack-o’-lantern an Irish tradition. The connection made sense to him, so it was just natural that he brought the now called Jack up to date.

Right Brain instead bristled a bit in furry, fists clenched as he replied: “You are such a jerk! I’m not stupid!”

“Guess how much I care?”

Jack crossed his arms as he angrily stepped beside him, brows furrowed as he tried to come up with something to get pay back, gritting through his teeth: “Well then!! I’ll call ya Mark!”

The red head glanced down at the other as he waited for an explanation, for he could not in the slightest see a reason for a name like the one chosen. It was a fitting name, short, fast, and it reminded him of known people, authors, musicians, scientists. The more he thought about it, it seemed to stick, for he had not really been sure about his own title. Still he stared at the other, waiting for the reason as of why he had given him Mark as a name.

Jack just glanced to the ground as saw the other waiting, murmuring: “Because you just marked yourself as the douchiest person I know! Goes right into my calendar!”

“Seems fair.”

Left Brain did not really know how to respond elsewise. They had just established titles they could go around screaming if they wanted. So he looked back at the other, who was still having his head bowed so he could kill the grass with his eyes, as he beckoned: “Now, Jack. Time to find Wade. Let’s hope we get him before sun down.”

“Whatever…” Right Brain mumbled miserably, thinking to himself that the sooner they found Wade the better, hoping the other would stop being so demanding when he got the information he wanted.


	5. Finding Wade

After walking down the path, Mark and Jack were met with the person they had been looking for the whole day.

At first they had been ignoring each other, Jack still hurt by being called brainless, for he was at least half a brain, and Mark concentrated on getting back. But as they were walking through the many little paths between houses, Right Brain had suddenly heard a voice, a familiar voice that lit his face up, and he tackled the other to make him go faster. Mark was about to protest that it was not necessary to have him being pushed but then he blinked, aware of why the other was in such a rush. Shortly after he was the one that took his legs into his hands, dashing between planted pots and people, arriving at the square just in time to see Wade talk to the teacher from before, both brain halves watching him from afar.

“There he is!” Jack excitedly shouted, “Finally! It took ages!”

“Now we just have to evaluate on how to proceed.”

“Huh?”

Left Brain turned to the green head as he explained: “Have you already forgotten again? We are not Robert, no one knows us. If we stroll over and initiate a conversation he might react negatively. And we do not need negative attention right now.”

Right Brain tilted his head at the words, watching Wade once more, who stood lazily there, hands in his way too big hoodie pockets, leaning a bit away as the woman before him threw her hands up in exaggeration. He seemed as if he was already aware of the fire and/or did not care much about it, as the two brain halves could hear him reply in a tired fashion.

“You know, at least it wasn’t a house.”

“It could have been a house!!”

“Yeah, you know, Nina didn’t mean it so that’s something, right?” He shrugged. “Come on now, you have been fussing over this how long? She’s just a kid. Kids make mistakes. It’s not like she’s going to kill anybody. A fire here and there, we have been dealing with much more dangerous explosives over the years, if I may kindly remind you.”

He grinned crookedly as she huffed in annoyance, the conversation seemingly coming to an end as she rolled her eyes: “Don’t. Technology was in its baby shoes back then compared to today. And it has nothing to do with the fact that the children nowadays all have some kind of need to set themselves on fire.”

“Oh I wouldn’t go that far. When I was a teenager I wished some days I could do that, too.”

A glare was thrown his way as he giggled before she brushed her hair back: “We got blessed with so many trouble makers… I will never understand why everybody put you in charge, it just makes things worse. Just… all of them went to you. And now these ankle biters have only mischief in their head.”

“It’s not just my fault, I had help. And at least it doesn’t get boring around here.”

She turned, knowing he would just continue making fun of the situation, as she explained: “Then next time you can be the one cleaning the place up, be my guest.”

Wade waved after her, before he buried his hands in his hoodie pockets once more, shaking his head in amusement. For a moment he was just content standing there, for he had been called from one corner of the village to the other and a little breather was really appreciated.

As he felt his shoulder tapped however he turned abruptly, his peace shattered and taking in the two people that stood in front of him. He took a double take as his gaze got stuck and his eyes widened in awe.

“Whoa! Nice hair!”

“Thanks!” Jack replied promptly with a grin, before it fell and he glanced up at Left Brain, who was scowling.

His hand lingered in the air, there where he had tapped his friend on the shoulder, as he continued with a greeting: “Good day, we have been searching for you.”

“You were?” Wade blinked as he leant a bit back in mistrust, “Do I know you guys?”

Right Brain let his shoulders drop, while Left Brain lowered his gaze, both of them still disappointed that their best friend did not seem to recognize them. It was expected but the hope that he would at least have taken a moment to wonder, to look them over closer because something was wrong, would have maybe been reassuring. But soon enough Jack was smiling fondly, ready to explain who they were, excited to tell him about his new name as well, before his other half poked him harshly in the ribs with his elbow.

Jack held his side with a surprised look, letting out a comical yelp as he puffed out his cheeks, while Mark hushed him, pointing-finger in front of his mouth. As they glared at each other, Wade’s face turned from confused to amused, chuckling.

“No seriously,” Wade then started again, a relaxed look on his face, “You guys here to help or what? The others set me up as the guide again, huh… Need directions?”

Left Brain shook his head as Jack was still rubbing his side, replying instead with a lowered voice: “Sorry, but we are not here because of the festival. We have much to talk about and it is not suited for in the middle of the village centre. A more isolated area would be preferable.”

“Isolated area…? Preferable? You sound like you came from the middle ages, jeez…” he just replied dumbfounded, “Who are you anyway?”

“Would it be enough if I told you we came from Vinestone Hospital?” Mark answered courtly, arms crossed while Jack tilted his head hopefully.

Soon enough they could see a lightbulb flash behind Wade’s eyes. Then they watched as his look formed from surprised to uneasy, leaning forward as he whispered: “Is he okay? He should have been back hours ago, what happened?”

Mark nodded around them, Wade following as he realized the people were stopping curiously, watching them with interest. Jack waved at a few of them as Mark slapped his hand down so he would leave it be, before Wade walked in between them.

He pointed to the direction of the train station, murmuring over his shoulder: “Okay, best we get away from the others then, follow me.”

Before too long they stood in a blind alley, hidden away from any window or person as Wade looked up and down the street, making sure that nobody would pass them by. He did not assume people would set after them, for most have a sense of respect, but you never really knew. Villagers were curious people, he included, and by God did rumours spread like wild fire. As soon as he was assured that everything was under control he went up to the two men, his brows furrowed.

“Okay, what’s up with Bo? I was told he would be back the next day? Now is next day.”

“Well… He kinda is?” Jack smiled a bit miserable while Mark rolled his eyes.

Wade instead just pursed his lips as he narrowed his eyes: “What?”

“It is of utmost importance that you believe us when we tell you what has happened. We need your mind sharp and not clouded by judgement.”

“Damn, sounds like you’re going to drop some killer information on me…” the one in the hoodie sighed before he worriedly added, “I’ll listen. Did something go wrong, is something wrong with him? What did the doctor say, is something like… broken or?”

“Well, I am not sure if the definition really fits. It is rather…”

“…Really fokin’ weird?”

“Yes, weird. That sums it up perfectly.”

Wade could hear the pure sarcasm drip from the red heads voice while the other was smiling up to him, not getting the hint. Wade wanted to laugh, in the back of his mind noting the two as born comedians, but his confusion grew and he interrupted the two bickering, slightly on edge.

“What is weird? What kind of weird? Was it a “wow, never thought I find this in here!” weird or a “this is really terrible and we don’t get it” weird?”

Mark and Jack just looked at each other, not being sure where in that spectrum their situation fit in. For a moment neither of them said anything, before both closed their eyes, Wade shuddering at their behaviour. Something seemed familiar to him as the green head rubbed his neck with his hand while the other was crossing his arms, pulling them closer to his chest. Putting his finger on the situation seemed dangerous, and the longer he stood there, with not a single clue on what was going on, the more he felt a foreboding, bad feeling fill up in him.

As Mark answered the coin finally fell and Wade went rigid.

“We are Bo.”

Nothing.

“I am his left brain side, the logical part.”

A blink.

“And this is his right brain side, the creative one.”

Minutes seemed to pass as Wade tried to process, then another moment was spent by him staring at both with a blank face. Mark and Jack both waited patiently for the information to sink in, but they got apprehensive as Wade looked from one to the other, trying to find out if he was being kidded. They could read by his face that he was conflicted in believing them, who would not be? And his eyes were wide, in reality unseeing as he tumbled back to get distance.

Right Brain tried to smile as he lifted his arms then, Wade still with a glazed look, before he stepped closer. He looked like he was trying to calm a wild animal, saying soothingly: “Ya know? For a moment there I thought you gonna black out on us. A lot of stuff for just a minute meeting, huh? Well I’m sure we-…”

“WHAT THE FUCK!”

Both brain halves jumped back as Wade let out his yelled screech, his hands flying above his head, before he grabbed Jack by his shoulders, pulling him closer, eyes wildly flying over the others face. Time stopped as they all stood there, no one speaking a word, before other curses tumbled from Wade’s mouth, voice getting higher and higher.

“What the fuck, holy mother of, oh my God… Bo?! Bo is that really you, what happened?!”

He started shaking Jack.

“Dude, what happened?!? Why are you two now, what the hell did they do?!”

“Wade! Let him go! You do not…”

“No, no, what the hell happened back there, Bo? Tell me something only we know, this can’t be!”

Jack let out a muffled yelp as Wade was shaking him, grasping onto his arms to loosen them from his shoulders, only partly successful in stopping him. It was as if he was trying to rattle the truth out him, Mark watching the two of them shortly with a calculating look on his face. As Jack let out another screech however he stepped closer, reaching out with his arm.

“You favourite snack is to put salted peanuts into your cola bottle and drink them together!” Left Brain then finally burst in as he tried to peel Wade from Jack. “You pulled the cords of your hoodie out because they got caught in everything you walked by and you tried to consume a whole lemon in 8th grade because Bo dared you to do so in exchange for him to do your French homework!”

The shaking persisted as Left Brain literally jumped in between them, pushing the frantic Wade as well as he could off from the other, shouting other knowledge at his childhood friend to help him snap out of it. Then finally, after names and dates have been thrown out, he stopped, Wade still gripping Right Brain as if his life depended on it, before he glanced up at Left Brain. Holding him by his shoulder and Right Brain over the chest so he could separate them, Mark nodded, watching carefully what his friend would do. For a moment all three held their breath before Wade let it out, his hands falling shortly afterwards from the other, a tremor running through him while Right Brain could rip himself free. 

“Jesus, Wade!” Jack then half screamed, half laughed, hands on his knees, head still swimming, “Please tell me next time ya wanna use me as a rag doll!”

“This is messed up,” Wade uttered instead as he looked at both of them, “This is messed up, why? Why are you two people now?”

“Robert was diagnosed with incompatible brain halves. The only solution was to separate them into us and try to work out a solution together.”

Wade looked at Mark with a brow lifted, before he put his hand under his chin and murmured: “Makes sense.”

“This is your only reply?”

Wade’s face fell to an unamused one as he put his hands on his waist: “Oh, you know. After my freak out, listening to a stranger counting off things only I and Bo should know, of course I still have the mental capacity to fucking fight the idea that my best friend is suddenly a split person with coloured hair. Yeah, judge me, go ahead.”

Jack shrugged at Left Brain, who let his eyelids drop.

“Anyway…” Wade’s shoulders fell. “So… You two are really Bo?”

“Well, depends?” Right Brain pondered, hand over his mouth in thought, “I actually don’t feel much like Bo. More like I know exactly what Bo did until yesterday and now I’m just here.”

“As it is, we share memories but we do not identify with Robert himself. To get him back we need help and we hoped you had the materials to be of assistance.”

“Assistance? I just found out that Bo got ripped apart, like the hell do I know how to fix him?”

“You must have gotten letters, papers, information about the “hospital” you send us to, which I want to correct you, was not a hospital, but a brain research station and used for experimentation,” Mark nonchalantly spoke, before he added, “It seems Robert was not the first one, according to the numbers, but still, crucial error.”

“Look, Bo had been tip toing around the issue like almost half his life time, I had to do something!” Wade defended himself, before he grumbled, “It’s not like he ever listens. Talk about thick-skulled.”

Left Brain shook his head: “The damage is done, we are only wasting time and breath. The best next step is to visit your house and examine the letters. There is a possibility that I might find in one of the codes more hints on how to retrieve him.”

Wade slowly blinked, overwhelmed by the situation, settling on a single thing as he leant forward: “Can I just ask a question first?”

“Of course.”

“Why in the fuck do you guys talk like that?”

“Excuse me?”

“Seriously? You sound like a robot,” Wade grumbled out, before he pointed at Right Brain, who had been busy staring at the clouds above him, “And you sound…” He blinked, “I don’t even know actually, is that Scottish?”

“I like my accent!” Right Brain grinned, “Left Brain said it sounds Irish!”

“What did I say? Do not call me that.” Mark glanced back, Jack flinching at the harsh, crossed tone the other used while Wade lifted an eyebrow. “Did we not just give each other names? I thought we had that already established.”

“You named yourselves?”

“Indeed we did. I provided to call him Jack.”

“And I called him Mark!”

“That’s adorable.”

Mark and Jack now both dead panned at Wade who was hiding his grin behind his hands, chuckling. Now that he knew that they were Bo he felt a bit less uneasy, knowing his friend was alright, even though he was now separate brain halves. Both of them in their actions reminded him a tiny bit of Bo now that he had time to talk with them. He was sure he needed still some moments to wrap the whole thing in his mind to understand it fully. But as it was now, it was okay. Instead he proposed to leave for his house, while he wanted them to explain the whole situation. The short story on what happened between yesterday evening and now was a slight cross of Jack enthusiastically squealing and Mark seriously stating, Wade listening intently.

While taking the keys out of his pockets, opening the door he looked back at the two. “So essentially you drove while dodging paying the bus tickets?”

“Look, Wade, we were in absolute disarray. Can you really take offense to that?”

“I guess not. But anyway, I can register you two now in the bus chart as well as that other bureaucrat stuff if we’re going to go online. Just to avoid you having trouble with the police at the end of the day,” he announced, kicking his shoes away and going upstairs while Mark and Jack climbed after him.

Jack scratched his cheek: “We were kinda lucky, I guess. If someone had asked us for an ID or somethin’, we would have been in a lotta trouble.”

“Nowadays it’s pretty easy to avoid being called out with all the robots and stuff, right? Nobody makes patrols anymore. Who the fuck cares if you were born in Vinestone, China or… or what do I know, Atlantis,” Wade just answered, as he took a seat by his table, turning his laptop on, “Anyway, should I just type Mark and Jack Burnham or do you want different last names?”

Mark and Jack looked at each other, before Mark decided: “Burnham is fine. We will go around the city introducing us as his cousins. It will deflect any kind of mistrust if we slip some information out that only a Pappelcreek citizen knows.”

“Reasonable,” Wade agreed as he bit the inside of his cheek, typing into the chart, as the other two crowded around him, “I wonder how long this will take. I haven’t done this in years.”

“Maybe a day?”

A bing sound interrupted them and Wade smirked slightly confused.

“Well, I guess it’s done now.”

Both brain halves shrugged as Jack kneeled down, hands on the table as he glanced over it, while Mark kept standing, pointing to the e-mail Wade opened, instructing him on what to type while opening lines of codes. Wade struggled a bit to keep up as Mark read the signs and numbers, before he pointed to a smaller section, asking if Wade could copy it into another tab. As that was done, Jack watching with wide eyes, Mark told Wade to scoot over a bit. Soon enough they could see him typing, as if translating a language only he could understand.

“How are you doing that? Bo would definitely never be able to do that.”

“I am the left half of a complete human brain. You are maybe not aware, but most cells in our brains are unused potential, shut off for they do not seem of advantage for a living being. But now, that we are separate, each of our halves have activated sections they were never aware of.”

Wade scratched his head, not really believing it for class taught him otherwise, while Jack stared up, as if trying to see if his brain half had done the same.

In the meantime Mark was almost done and the three of them stared at the letters that appeared in front of them, reading through a list.

Or more like trying to read it as Wade leant closer.

“So uh… What are those?”

“Words,” Jack provided, a brow lifting, “But really weird words. A bunch of them.”

Mark sighed as he explained: “Those are notes the computer took while working with other patients. I have to dwell deeper into the code and find out if there is more to them. Wade, could you be so good and send those to Robert’s computer? I will try to find more there.”

Wade nodded, before he pondered: “Why would there be a list of notes added to the source code? Who put it there?”

Mark put his two hands together before he pressed them to his nose and closed his eyes. Then he pointed with them to the screen again, the other two following his movements.

“The facility is build up entirely of machines, there are no human supervisors. My actual assumption is that it is abandoned, however, if we think of its past, I believe most lab technicians worked from afar with the computer in the laboratory. As soon as a person wanted an appointment they entered personal information and activated the computers mechanism. When they were through the procedure the computer would use these results plus the personal clues to write a summary. With those results send to them, scientists had a chance to learn more about the human brain in general. That information floats in the source code is a default mechanic, maybe a backup.” Mark shook his head. “While we have been there, we must have triggered it into working.”

“Why do you know that? How did you figure that all out?” Wade glanced up, disturbed, before he moved his gaze over to Jack, “Can you do shit like that, too?”

“Nope!” he chirped grinning, “But I can whistle!”

Wade had to keep himself from bursting out chuckling as Jack puffed his cheeks out and let out a high pitched cheep, while Mark lifted an eyebrow.

Soon enough Wade closed his computer, stood up and let his hands vanish into his hoodie pockets: “So you tell me there is a brain research station in the outskirts of the city, labelled on the internet as a hospital, where people go and get split? And then afterwards when they get fixed they just walk out of there and the computer just writes by themselves a summary?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t even want to argue right now on how stupid that sounds.”

Mark nodded: “There is more to it, I am still trying to understand the concept of it all as well, but we will not bother you any longer. I think it is time for us to leave.”

Wade was unsure as he led them back to his front door, asking if they wanted to stay longer, just to make sure they would not end up lost in the dark, but Mark reassured him that they knew where Bo lived and that it would not be an issue. Jack was petting Wade on the shoulder as he wished him good night before they stepped out into the incoming blackness, Mark leading the way as Jack waved, Wade shouting out for them to be careful.

As he saw the two shapes disappear into the dark he sighed heavily, closing the door and sitting down on the couch in his living room, staring at the ceiling. It had been a tiring, very weird day and he closed his eyes, hoping that when he woke up this had been all a dream, just a weird heat stroke he had to shake off.

Soon enough he was snoring, the night enveloping the village as the two made their way to Bo’s house.


	6. Night Time Is Worry Time

„Well… At least we are home.“

Jack nodded with a smile, walking through the doorframe just a few steps behind his other half, who was pocketing the keys back in his trousers. However, realising that it had been already a day since they were turned into two halves and reminding himself that this was not their but really and actually Bo’s apartment, Bo’s house, his smile fell. Taking off his shoes and setting them besides Mark’s ones, as neatly as possible to not destroy the serenity, it felt weird, he mused. It did not really feel like home anymore but more like a hotel room, a place he invaded, knowing it was not completely his but still for him to use as he pleased.

But Left Brain said they were not here to celebrate, this was not a vacation.

Dammit.

Lifting himself from his kneeled position Jack let his eyes wander, blinking at the things he saw here and there. He still knew where everything was and where it was located, knew that the kitchen was to his left side from the hallway he was standing in, to his right the living room. Straight ahead was the staircase leading up to Bo’s room, the guestroom and bathroom. Behind the staircase was another door, leading to the basement where his bicycle and old furniture stood as well as the heater and the place to hang up his laundry to dry. He knew that the house had all the knick-knacks it needed, a radio, a couch, an oven, a shower, a bed. He knew where the law books were, where the secret stash of candy food was, where every single plant stood.

He knew every inch of this apartment.

And still.

He would not have been surprised if he found little soaps in the bathroom, neatly organized. Or instructions on how to turn on the washing machine, or how this was a no-smoking area, that here were no pets allowed or chocolate on Bo’s pillow.

Now that he thought about it he really wanted chocolate.

Man, he was hungry.

Then he shook his head as he heard the floorboards creak, watching Mark, who had been walking around the ground-level rooms to make sure everything was alright, starting to head up the spiralled staircase.

“Left Brain, where are ya goin’?”

Mark stopped short and went a few steps back, bending down and peeking from the rim of the ceiling, glaring at his other half.

“Mark. It is still Mark,” he corrected him, a dead pan face on his features, as he then rolled his eyes, “What does it look like? I am going upstairs.”

The right side was disappointed to hear that, letting out a small: “Oh.”

Jack had hoped that maybe now was a good time to talk to Left Brain, get him to sit down and speak to him in private. It was apparent that Left Brain was not fond of Jack, dismissing him or turning him down whenever he tried to be friendly. He had hoped to maybe ask him why or if he could do anything to make the whole thing easier, but as it was, it was pretty tough to get through to him.

Not that it had been different when they were Bo he suddenly recalled, blinking surprised about that thought racing through his skull.

“Look, Jack…” Mark then started, snapping the green head out of his musings, sounding impatient, his posture still stiff and gripping the railing, “It has been a long day.”

A small pause.

“A really long, ludicrous day to say the least. Right now I just want some peace and quiet. I need time to settle down, do you understand that?”

Silence filled the hallway, as Jack stood there, rubbing his arm.

Mark took the silence as confirmation: “Good.”

Then he proceeded to go upstairs, Jack still rooted to his place and wondering what he should do with himself. On one hand he was extremely hungry, they had gone on without anything the whole day and living by with one bowl of cereal from yesterday evening was indescribably dissatisfying. But on the other hand going through the fridge felt like stealing, he just felt uncomfortable all by himself in a house that seemed now so much bigger than before.

In a house that was not his.

And after looking around again, noticing how late it had gotten thanks to the clock on the wall, he really did not feel like snooping around, sighing a bit to calm himself down.

Breathing out a second time he decided it would be best to follow Mark’s lead, maybe settle down as well and find a solution tomorrow.

As he made it up the stairs however he was surprised to see Mark preparing the guestroom, Jack’s brow lifting. Bo always only used it for when friends came over or when he wanted to stare out of the ceiling window, the angle perfect to lay in bed and watch the stars above. It was the only room with a slanted ceiling, which made it smaller but also very comfortable, a little safe space in the middle of his home.

But now Jack approached the door with a heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach, sticking his head in.

“What are ya doin’ now?”

“Preparing the bed,” Mark huffed out, spreading the sheet while Jack was still in the doorframe, gripping the wood and letting his eyes wander.

“So ya goin’ to stay in here?”

“Please tell me what else I would do in here.”

Right Brain just flinched at that, before he rubbed his neck. Mark there while finished patting the pillow and went to the door, Jack jumping back as the taller one took the handle.

“You will stay in Robert’s room, Jack. Do not break anything, you hear?”

“I’m not that clumsy!”

Mark huffed again, the door half closed as he replied: “We both know Robert is a clumsy person in general and without my help I can only imagine what kind of chaos you are able to produce.”

Right Brain looked away, pouting: “It’s not my fault things are always so slippery…”

“Soap is slippery, a book is not.”

“Glass is!”

“Goodnight Jack.”

And with that the conversation was closed, as well as the door Mark had barricaded himself behind while Jack just sighed though his nose. For a moment he wondered if he should walk around the house, just to make sure all is fine as well, but now that he stood alone, a fear gripped him he was unable to place and he shook his head. He was not ready to dwindle around the dark house by himself, rather not. Instead he stood a little longer, not entirely sure on what he was waiting for exactly before he turned and reached Bo’s room, closing his own door behind him.

The moment he let go of the doorknob he lifted his head as well, his blue eyes wandering over the room, before a static wave went through him in a frenzy, leaving him breathless.

Everything was the same, bed, window, table and wardrobe, everything in its rightful place.

Posters, papers, clothes, books, all still there how Bo left them.

Everything was so Bo about this place.

For a second Jack just stood there, trying to regain his composure, before he gulped down the stone that was forming in his throat. The longer he stared, the worse he felt, his head swimming. He had no clear idea on why seeing the room had such an impact on him but what he did know was that it felt bad.

Very bad.

This was Bo’s.

Not his.

This was not his.

The slightest possibility to move anything that Bo had left behind was like being stabbed, like moving a kings possessions around, like they were royal objects not worthy of being handled by an unknown hand.

Touching anything in here felt like he was going to destroy it in all ways imaginable.

He would break things.

That is why instead of going towards the bed he walked around it, heading for the window, putting his hands softly on the table to lean forwards. Looking at the room was not an option, not right now, and he stared down, blinking at the people moving. Lightbulbs were filling the street with a golden glow and he could see the other houses along the street Bo was living at. Here they were away from the city, which was glittering in the distance, here it was quiet, some cars rushing sometimes past but elsewise really silent. In the distance Jack could see the mountains and the forest surrounding it, as well as the dark clouds that were suddenly forming above them.

A frown came to Right Brain’s features as the stars were now clouded from view, his mood darkening with the expanse of the night.

“Yeah, that’s fokin’ great…” Right Brain mumbled, his hands leaving the table just as careful, “Thanks for makin’ the evening even gloomier than befor’.”

He shook his head as he walked around the carpeted room, not at all ready to go to bed, making a big circle around the offending furniture. The pure thought of going to sleep in there was making him shiver and he played with the thought of not going to sleep at all. It was not like Bo had not done that before and if he could do it, then Jack as well. If it meant going a few days without sleep, so be it.

No way was he going to sleep in there.

As he roamed the room, his hands were close to his chest, heading Mark’s warning almost unconsciously. Even though they were not directly linked anymore, there was still the urge to listen to him, the pure habit of doing what he was told to do in his veins.

Mark was in this case right, he would break something, he was sure.

Left Brain was always right.

He had to listen to him, as much as Jack hated the fact.

Another moment of silence beat through his mind and he had to shake his head at these thoughts.

Unfair was the word.

It is just unfair how things are.

Unfair.

And now his fingers started twitching, Jack trying to restrain himself from poking the stuff that was in the room, the feeling from before leaving him slowly but steadily and the sudden urge of curiosity taking over his mind. He was impulsive, the want to do something spreading as he got fixated on the objects in the room and he bit his lip. There were so many things he wanted to touch, there were so many things he could touch. Pencils lay around, books were piled on top of each other, music sheets and notes were littering the ground on which were badly written jokes Bo had come up with at work.

He really should not.

But he was so curious, had forgotten over time what was written on these pieces, so he finally relented, his frame trembling as he picked up the papers, sorting through them, jogging his mind with memories. He was glad that Bo was a messy man, as soon as he picked something up, letting it fall to the ground once more after he read through the contents, not bothering to order them.

His hands were shaking and the more he moved, the heavier they buzzed and he started to feel light headed.

It was nice to do what he wanted.

Taking another look, more aware, more curious on what he would find in the chaos of a man that never bothered to do more in here than sleep, his chest flared up as his gaze caught the half open door of the wardrobe. For a moment he sat, not sure what his mind was trying to tell him, blinking. He staggered as he stood up before he finally walked towards the corner of the room opposite the window, his shadow falling before him and turning the golden-brown wood black.

He paused.

Then he reached out and nudged the door open, his eyes wandering to the bottom of it.

For a moment he was not sure what to do as he stared at the guitar that was laying in front of him.

Dust was powdering the poor instrument, Jack wincing as he saw the strings that had snapped and curled into themselves, the neck of the guitar used and chipped away in various places. The body had scratches all over its surface, some of the headstocks having been snapped off as it had been carelessly thrown in there with the intent to never see the light of day again.

And for a moment Jack leant forward, wanting to free it from its prison, only to stop in the middle of reaching it.

Tears pricked the corners of his eyes and he sighed, shaking his head as he took the door and softly pressed it back where it had been.

Standing up once again and making his way towards the middle of the room once more he noticed something missing, his one hand brushing the water from his eyes. Wracking his brain on what it could be that was gone, he blinked and soon enough realized that the space on his desk, where he had put his hands on, was empty, the computer gone.

Mark must have taken it so he could read through the codes Wade had sent them.

Jack shuddered at the thought that Left Brain had just taken something Bo used, an imagined knife pushing itself into his stomach and making him squirm. An overwhelming feeling overcame him as he went back to the table, petting it slightly, the change not sitting well with him.

Left Brain had not even hesitated to take it.

He had not even asked him if that was alright.

But it had been Left Brain so it had been a must, right?

Jack trusted him, how could he not?

He had to.

If Left Brain really wanted to work on codes right now he was not going to hinder him. He knew the other knew what he was doing, he always did, but now Jack was more worried about what he himself should do. He still was repulsive of the bed, but what other choice did he have?

Deciding that he would not in a million, billion years lay himself in that bed, the next best thing was the carpet as he sat down, leaning his back on the door behind him, not wanting to stay any closer to the room then he had to. He was not sure if he even wanted to sleep, he did not feel like it, thoughts racing and the events of the day making his head spin.

So far he had coughed his lungs up, met his other half, got tugged around, met old friends, who were becoming new friends, saw the village in a new light, got a name and spent his whole day walking.

He had to say that was a productive day, even if they stood at the same spot as before.

His eyes dropped heavily as he leant back, sighing, before he curled up. At least the carpet was soft and not rubbery or scratchy as he moved to his side, back pressed to the wall. He still was not fond of the idea of sleeping at all, but he could not fight the tiredness.

With an unsure sigh Right Brain lulled off, hoping for a better tomorrow.

Left Brain on the other hand was more awake than he had ever been in his whole existence.

With the laptop he had borrowed from Bo’s room he sat cross legged on the made bed, opening the mail and retyping codes. Searching for clues, up and down he opened one hidden folder after the other, pulling information out and reading through it, only then to continue on. As far as he had found out it was all as he had explained to the other two. Scientists had made a research station with a gigantic computer to gather data, while also solving the patient’s problems in search for hidden secrets about humanity.

So far so good.

Mark was aware that he was going through top secret hidden folders, which could kick Bo into prison if he was not careful, that is why he initially had asked Wade for the e-mail, copying it and hiding it under passwords and other encodings. It was safer, safer than at the lab where they could be traced or directly linked to the station, dwelling deeper and deeper. Even if the place had been left alone for years, who knew if some scientists still checked on it?

God, had Wade even looked at the date of the website he had been on to make sure it was not outdated?

Why was it not already taken down?

Left Brain was unsure if this whole issue was an open project or something build behind other authorities backs. He was certain however that the whole laboratory was a danger and imposition to human rights, bile coming up his throat at the thought that over twenty four-thousand people have gone through the process.

It was an incredible amount and the worst thing was, that people, like Bo could still stumble over the abandoned factory up to this day. The add Wade had found was a brilliant example on how far a group of humans could go for information, luring the people they needed without as much as a few nice words.

Maybe the intentions had been good but the consequences were too high.

He knew the people called there were one’s that had given up on themselves, just like Bo had. People that did not know how to progress anymore, lost in the dark. But this crossed the line.

And it came worse.

His brows furrowed as he found sections that were especially worrying, wary of the implications he read. Notes like “Failure: Data corrupted”, “Failure: Corresponding data was not found” and “Failure: Data was erased” were littered across his dashboard. How that could be possible was beyond him, the further he went, the cases exponentially getting worse.

Mark searched, trying to find out what the computer meant by those notes and more importantly how they had happened. If those experimentations were able to turn into failures, what happened to the people? What was a failure in the processed mind of a computer? Is that why the lab was abandoned in the first place?

He read through codes, trying to fit them together like a puzzle, but the deeper he went the more disturbing it got. He was only to a third done before light hit him in the face and he had to glance up, watching the sun rise and filling the room with orange rays. Still he continued, ready to find everything he could, the screen that had dimmed in the darkness starting to get brighter the higher the sun stood. His eyes burned as he brushed over them, a yawn or two falling from his lips, but the determination to find anything of importance dug deeper into his flesh.

He just needed to find a way to get Bo back.

There was surely a way.

Then suddenly the computer flickered, making him narrow his eyes, before he glanced down and watched the battery slowly die on him. He sighed as he marked the spot he left off on, closing the device, leaning back and hitting the pillow. Mark wished he had more time as he stared at the ceiling for a moment, thinking through what he had found out. It was a little much if he was honest with himself and he wondered what Bo has tumbled into, moving an arm over his face to keep the light away.

He knew laying here would be no good and after stretching his arms above him, for he had not moved the whole night, he stood up, tucking the computer under his arm and walking to the door.

He needed the charging cable from Bo’s room as well as a cup of coffee.

Even though he felt some tiredness lay itself over him he shook his head, cranking the door open, being sure that the other was probably still asleep and that he could sneak in and out without making too much noise. To his surprise however he stumbled, the device falling from under his arm and landing on the ground with a hard bang, before he caught himself with a huff on the chair beside him. For a moment he tried to piece together what had happened before he frowned, picking up the computer in front of his feet, before glancing back behind him, his gaze moving down in irritation.

Jack in the meantime blinked blearily as he snapped his head up, looking around in fright for he had been kicked in the side, yelping: “I’m awake! I’m awake!! What’s on fire?!”

“Nothing,” Mark responded, as he straightened out his back, kicking the few notes that were near him away in disgust and tilting his head, “What are you doing on the ground?”

Jack rubbed his eyes as he sat up, leaning forward and putting his elbows on his knees. “Sleepin’.”

“The carpet is not meant to be slept on, it will kill your back. There is a bed right there.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you blocking the entrance instead?”

“The bed creeped me out.”

“Creeped you out?”

Jack slowly stood up as he dusted himself off, stretching to his full height, before he smiled embarrassed: “I don’t know. I felt uncomfortable.”

Mark lifted an eyebrow, before he shrugged: “Suit yourself. I am looking for the charger.”

“Ye need help?”

“Top drawer, left side from the table, crammed between the pencil case and box of erasers. Robert left it there.”

“That was specific!”

Left Brain just swung the drawer open, took the cable and untangled it, slightly murmuring about how Bo always had the knack to just push everything he did not need anywhere to let it disappear, before he passed by Right Brain. At first Jack pondered if the other wanted to go back to the guestroom, but when he saw him step down the stairs he followed swiftly. Arriving at the bottom of the steps, Left Brain turned right and moved to the kitchen table, putting the computer down and dragging the cable across the floor to the next socket. Jack there while vanished shortly behind and under the staircase as he pulled out another chair, setting it opposite Mark and he seated himself, watching as his other half opened the device and started it up.

“What’s the plan today?” Jack then asked as Mark was waiting for the screen to come to life once more, glancing shortly up as if he had forgotten the other was even here, “Ya gonna spend the whole day with this?”

“Considering that we want Robert back I assume so. Why?”

Jack dropped his shoulders before he perked up and responded: “Well! I’ve been thinkin’! Today the festival starts to really come to life and I hoped we could walk around again! Maybe help this time out a bit, ya know? And maybe go visit Wade in the café, I’m sure he had to go back to work!”

“Are you forgetting that we have bigger matters to attend to?” Mark told him instead, as he rubbed his forehead, standing up, “Going out is the last thing we should do.”

Watching as Mark went to the coffee machine Jack’s smile faltered, before he answered: “Sure, us gettin’ back together is important, but Bo never missed it! I don’t think just because of this we should shatter tradition, don’t ya agree?”

“Shatter tradition, aha,” Mark murmured as he poured fresh water into the pod before the beans were crushed by the machine, dark liquid pouring into his cup, “Do you really think we can afford tradition over Robert’s well-being?”

Jack listened as the coffee was made, the sound integrated in his mind, reminding him of lazy, calm days and free time. Bo liked to drink coffee on the weekends rather than for when he was off to work. The dark brew always made him a bit hyper and it was better to kick off a free day with some energy then bother all the people at work, which were already aggravated for being there.

No wonder, Jack thought, office jobs always suck, they’re boring as hell.

Everybody is always so depressed in there, it makes him depressed.

As Mark sat down again, Jack shook himself, nodding swiftly as he explained: “Ya know, Left Brain, I think he would rather focus on what is good than bad!”

“Mark.”

“What?”

“I am called Mark, so I will remind you every single time until you get it right.”

“Oh!” Jack grinned cheekily, “Anyway! I think Bo would enjoy goin’ out there and see people, walk around to say summer bye!”

“Say summer bye…”

“Yeah!”

Mark took a sip as he seemed to think about what Right Brain had said, before he let out a breath.

“Well, I do believe I need to get something.”

“Really? Watcha need?”

“A new computer.”

Jack blinked as Mark turned the device and tapped slightly at the side of the black screen, indicating that it was busted. Jack first followed the charger to see if it was just not put in right and then realized that the screen was fizzing where Mark was pressing down on it. Right Brain tried to repress it, but he smiled lightly at his luck, as he announced: “Well, that’s great! Now we can go!”

“Indeed.”

“So what are we waitin’ for!?” Jack excitedly shouted as he jumped up, only for Mark to hold his hand up and pointing it to his cup.

“I am not done yet.”

“Oh.”

Back in his seat Jack patiently waited for Mark to finish, still bouncing with his legs as he tapped with his fingers on the table. He was glad that they would be spending the day out, the worry that had settled in his stomach at the thought that they would miss the special preparation days leaving him in a flash. He was brimming with excitement, he was sure they would see even more familiar faces and have a great day!

He wondered intensely on what today would exactly bring, as Mark instructed him to stop bouncing, sighing: “Today will be a long day.”

“I hope so!”


	7. Two Troublemakers And A Lot Of Magic

Mark was just about to close the door behind him as he saw Jack jump up a tree, the morning starting already with a discussion.

Just a few minutes ago he had emptied his coffee, unplugged the coffee machine and had put the laptop safely back upstairs, before he was by the front door putting on his shoes. In that time Jack had somehow managed to slip past him, dashing across the small yard before he had thrown his arms around the one oak tree in the garden, clinging to it. While climbing, shoes scraping to keep their footing on the bark, Mark had walked over, tilting his head. For a moment the one with glasses just watched as Jack climbed up, arms crossed as he tapped his foot up and down. Then finally he called up, brow lifted as his other half glanced between the foliage, his green hair poking out of the yellow, brown and red leaves.

“What are you doing?”

“Climbing!”

“That does not explain why you are climbing it.”

“I wanted to!”

“You wanted to,” stated Mark again, as he huffed unimpressed, “Is your impulse control that far off the roof that you have not thought the action through at all? What purpose does this serve?”

Jack just grinned as he dangled himself off a branch, hanging upside down, Left Brain suddenly feeling uncomfortable watching him: “I just really wanted to climb! Look! So many colours!! Aren’t they nice?!”

“Very nice. Now get down.”

Jack’s grin faded as he saw the other pointing to the ground, a frown on his features. For a second Right Brain battled himself, wanting to protest as he crossed his arms in front of his chest as well, before he glanced sideways, eyes widening. From his point of view he could see over the fence, watching as Nina, the child from yesterday, was roaming her garden, seemingly looking for something. Deciding he would go pay her a visit he pushed his body up, hands gripping the branch and detaching his legs, only then to jump down with a little, happy yelp. Some of the leaves were stuck to his clothes and hair as he put his hands on his waist, proud of having landed on his feet, chuckling. Left Brain there while brushed the other off, plucking the offending foliage away as he stared at him unimpressed.

“Now that you explored this tree are you ready to go to the square?”

“Not yet!” Jack shook his head as he instead dashed to the fence and jumped over it, Left Brain shook in surprise.

In the neighbouring garden Right Brain looked around curiously, catching no sight of the girl, his head whipping around. For a second he believed that he had just imagined her, before he could hear a bush rustling, walking over to the patch it grew on. There were all kinds of bushes, blackberry and raspberry included and as he kneeled down he could see a leg sticking out from one of them. As he moved closer he could hear a voice grumbling, as she told herself that thorns were stupid, leaves moving into all possible directions, before the legs started to move out again, half of the body returning to the open. Jack was about to pat her back in greetings, but knew better then to scare her as he instead coughed to make his presence known.

“Augh! I don’t have time!” was the answer, as she mumbled, “What? What do you want, I’m busy.”

Jack just laughed as he kneeled down beside her, pushing some of the branches away so she could move more easily, thinking that she would maybe want to leave the thorny prison. “Sorry for interruptin’, but watcha doin’?”

“Who’s asking?”

“I’m Right Brain, but Left Brain calls me Jack.” Plucking off a blackberry from the bush he held it in his hand, knowing that Bo was always welcome to eat as many as he wanted when he visited. Still, even though his stomach was grumbling greedily, he wondered: “May I have one?”

“What? The berries?” Nina mumbled distractedly, not listening at all, as she still roamed around, “Yeah sure, go ahead, take as many as you want. My mom made all the jam already, she won’t mind.”

With the confirmation he flipped it into his mouth, already picking another one as he repeated: “So watcha doin’? Lookin’ for something?”

Instead of sneaking out she went deeper, now that the spikes were gone, Jack giggling a bit as she answered angrily: “I lost something and I can’t find it! I’ve been looking everywhere and I really can’t figure out where it went…”

“Lost something?”

“Yeah…” she sighed as Jack could hear her patting the ground, trying to reach in between the thickest of branches, “I don’t know when I lost it or how. But it has to be somewhere, it has to! It’s important to me!”

Jack took a handful of the blackberries, as he stuffed them into his mouth, chewing silently, before he spoke after his gulp: “Ya mean yer hairclip, right?”

The grumbling stopped and instead she snapped her head up in surprise, a grunt leaving her as her hair got stuck in the leaves and branches, yelping. Luckily Jack had pushed most of them out of the way so she would not get caught up in them as she reeled backwards, whole body jumping up as she landed on her rear, a surprised squeal leaving her mouth. She still had her hair in front of her eyes as she tried to push it away, a wave of frustration leaving her, Jack flinching at her loud bark. Then he watched her with sympathy, leaning forward and brushing the strips to the side to help her. Even though Nina was still gritting her teeth, she was glad for the help, blinking as the offending strands finally vanished from her sight, only to let her shoulders drop.

Nina, who had to push herself back to her knees, looked up in awe, studying the man in front of her. She had not actually registered the fact that Jack was somebody she never met before, and was therefore even more fascinated as she looked at him. Her mouth opened once, then another time, no sound coming out before her eyes moved even further up, over Jack’s hair, blinking in the progress.

At first Jack had trouble to understand her wonderment and lifted an eyebrow at her, before he followed Nina’s gaze, locating Left Brain hovering over him, Right Brain swallowing nervously.

Mark on the other hand just crossed his arms as he asked with some disdain in his voice: “Do I really need to tell you in actual words that it is not of advantage for you to leave any second you can? You cannot just run off whenever you like.”

“Sorry!” Jack apologized swiftly before he pointed at the girl to move the attention away from him, “But I’m tryin’ to help!”

Left Brain’s eyes focused on Nina, eyes narrowing shortly as he realized that she was watching them with a sort of silent surprise and fear in her features. First she glanced up at him, before her eyes wandered to Jack, hands still in the grass, before her eyes went up again. It seemed like she was debating if she could trust them, realizing that those were new faces that just showed up in her garden. Both men were sure she was suspicious of them, not having them seen ever. She was also probably just as excited about their hair as the rest of the village had been. It was refreshing however that she did not comment on it for she was too speechless to say anything.

Finally she tilted her head, looking back to Jack, asking: “How do you know I’m missing my hair clip?”

“We saw you yesterday by the square when the fire was called out!” Jack answered honestly, as his face brightened, “And I noticed ye pushing ya hair back the whole time!”

“You did?” Nina mumbled, as she was about to repeat the hand action, stopping in her tracks, “I really do that…?”

“Yeah, ya do!”

“And you took notice of that simple act in the whole commotion?”

Jack snapped his head up as Left Brain asked the question, glancing at the two on the ground with a calculating stare, silently tapping his hand on his chin. He had not been aware of the fact that Nina had been struggling with her hair himself, so it was interesting to him how Right Brain had.

But Jack just shrugged as he chuckled: “It just felt off to me I guess!” He turned to Nina again. “So I was sure it’s your bow hair clip ye’re missin’!”

A beat of silence followed, as the girl let the information settle, nodding absent-mindedly. It made sense to her, but then a lightbulb seemed to go on, she letting out a gasp and eyes sparkling.

“Are you magic?”

“What?” Right Brain burst out laughing, tilting his head, “No, but I would love to be though! Why?”

Leaning back onto his hands, Jack had suddenly Nina under his nose, her face breaking out into a gigantic grin. Soon enough she was in his lap, as close as she could possibly get, seemingly examining him from all sides. For a moment Jack held his breath, not sure of what she was looking for while Left Brain observed them silently.

Then finally Nina was satisfied, yelping happily: “You are magic!! You can’t know I wear a bow hair clip!” She proudly closed her eyes. “And if you are magic you can also find out where it went!”

But Jack just blinked as he pointed to himself: “Magic? Me?”

Nina nodded: “Yes! You are magic!”

“He is definitely not magic,” Left Brain decided to step in, as he glanced down at her with a cold look, slightly waving with his hands to usher her off the other. Then he took Right Brain by the arm and tugged him up, adding: “It might be of importance to tell you who we are.” He pointed to himself. “I am Mark and the one you call magic…” He pointed to the green head who was now clinging to his arm and shoulders, using him as a climbing tree. “…is Jack. We are Robert’s cousins and he told us enough about you to know about the hair clip.”

“Robert’s cousins?” Nina repeated instead surprised as she crossed her arms behind her back, watching as Jack perched himself further on the other’s shoulders, “Weird… you look nothing like Bo!”

“We know. It’s the genes.”

Nina blinked, not understanding the explanation but still laughed into her fist as Jack sat comfortably on Left Brain’s shoulder, making faces. Without Mark’s knowledge he was sticking his tongue out and stretched his mouth, Nina trying to compose her laughter while Mark crossed his arms, lifting an eyebrow.

Finally she replied chuckling: “Still! You guys look nothing like him! He’s super tall…” She went on her tippy toes. “…and has pretty, green eyes!”

“You think they are pretty?”

While Right Brain grinned, still waiting for an answer, Left Brain put a hand to his cheek as he supported his elbow with his free hand, sighing. She did not seem suspicious of them at all now anymore, more like she welcomed the change, watching them and their antics. Mark assumed that this was a normal behaviour for her to be that trusting, believing them without a second thought, especially with Jack acting so childish. Then he staggered as Right Brain jumped off his shoulder back to earth, smiling down at the girl with a gigantic grin, Mark’s frown intensifying. He had the urge to roll his eyes again, but decided he rather focused on Nina.

Before too long she patted her cheek in thought, as she looked them over, before pointing out: “You guys have pretty eyes too, though! And I like your hair!”

And there was the hair comment.

Left Brain had already more than enough of standing here, wasting his time, so he took the other by the arm, Jack flinching as he was pushed forward. With a wave over his shoulder Mark was about to tell her goodbye, only for the girl to run in front of them and block their path.

“Wait, wait! Did you misters actually see my hair clip somewhere?”

Jack, who was leaning backwards into the outstretched hands of his other half, Mark wanting to push him onwards by his shoulder blades, scratched his chin in thought, before he had to shake his head: “Sorry, no. I didn’t see it anywhere.”

“Me either,” Mark joined in, already walking on as Nina blocked the path to the gate again.

“If you do find it, could you give it back to me?” she then asked, hands beside her in fists, her eyes wide in confidence, “With you being magic I’m sure you can!”

Both brain halves were silent as they pondered how to answer her. Left Brain was absolutely against looking for something as tiny as a hair clip. They had much bigger things to attend to and then to go look for something this expandable was unnecessary. He had to shake his head as he looked down at her, still watching them both with a determined smile.

“Little lady, as I have told you once, Jack is not magic in any way and it would be-“

“Sure!”

The quick response Jack gave shook Left Brain once again, as he glanced sharply at him. The green head cared less however as his announcement was followed by a salute, a serious frown crossing his features before he moved his hand from his forehead to his heart. “We will go in search for the elusive bow clip! We will not deter from our way until it is found!”

Left Brain was speechless as Nina giggled with excitement, jumping up, before she saluted as well. Then soon enough she gave the way free, as she thanked them with a smile, telling them that they would surely find her by the park or the square if they found it. She did not let up as she waved after them, Jack waving happily back until both brain halves went around the corner, disappearing from view.

And with that both men were walking down the street, Left Brain glaring at Jack who had a little jump in his step, face beaming: “Did ya see?! She was so happy!”

“And now you promised her to find a 7 centimetre long, dark-blue bow hair clip in the middle of a village that looks like the Labyrinth of the Centaur.”

Right Brain blinked at Left Brain, who in the meanwhile was navigating between houses, passing by people who all looked back at them with interested faces. The sky was clouded and shadows fell over them from time to time, but it did not hinder the villagers to notice the weird pair, some of them remembering them from yesterday. Some looked back or stopped, others were more skilled in hiding their curiosity and walked by without as much as a glance. Mark was too focused on getting to the electric shop to really notice while Jack was trying to keep up, his face crunched up in a thoughtful expression.

“How long are 7 centimetres?” he then finally enquired.

“2.75 inches,” Left Brain provided, before he took a double take and rubbed his forehead, frown deepening, “Did I use centimetres?”

“Is that bad?”

Mark stared forward as he simply replied: “I do not know.”

Right Brain shrugged: “Eh! Doesn’t matter!” Then he giggled as he started to walk in front of Mark, trying to actually enjoy his surroundings. “And I’m sure if it really were the Labyrinth of the Centaur he would have ripped our heads off already!”

“That was morbid.”

Right Brain just grinned as Mark sighed through his nose, having neglected his train of thought and needing to locate it once more.

He was still wondering over his slip up, for he was sure Bo did never have the tendency to use centimetres, his eyes narrowing. He knew that parts of his brain had changed to accommodate them, to make it more accessible for them to be living separately. But what advantage did centimetres give him? For the computer to have made a point in adding a fact into his system, a fact that was nothing more than a waste, was preposterous.

As he looked down and stared at his hands, pondering if there was something he was overlooking, he saw the green head bend down to look him in the eyes. He snapped out of his musings, realizing that he had stopped in the middle of his walk, the other already showing concern.

“I have decided on something,” Left Brain then started, as he pointed between them, “We are going to make rules.”

“Rules?” Right Brain repeated a bit surprised, “What kind of rules? Are we playin’ a game again?”

Left Brain shook his head as he beckoned the other to follow him: “No, we are going to make rules between each other to assure we will get Robert back as soon as possible. Therefore I need your cooperation.”

“Sounds good! What did you imagine for starters?” Jack jogged behind the other, the path too narrow to exactly walk beside him.

“First off: We do not separate more than a few feet from each other. It is important that neither of us get hurt in any way to ensure Robert’s safety.” Right Brain was absolutely okay with that rule, keeping quiet as Left Brain continued. “We will try to keep looking for a way to fuse again, that means not getting side tracked by anything, you hear? No explorations from now on.”

“Not even a bit?” Right Brain hesitated suddenly.

He realized that he would not have met Nina this morning if that rule had been there before. He did not want to miss seeing his other friends or parts of the village where they all could gather. Maybe more needed help like Nina or needed a good laugh and if Left Brain was so focused he could ignore them by accident, which Right Brain really did not want.

But the other just huffed as he replied: “Not even a bit.”

Jack sighed a bit at that: “Well… Any more rules?”

“For now we have to get to the electric shop, then we can think of more.”

“Can we go to the café first?”

Left Brain peeked over his shoulder as he lifted an eyebrow: “Why?”

“I’m hungry!”

“Hungry?”

“Yes, of course I am!” Jack frowned as he pointed behind him, “Bo hasn’t eaten anythin’ since Thursday evening! I only ate a bunch of blackberries and you had a coffee today! We gotta eat somethin’ if we don’t wanna drop!”

He hesitated, noticing the heat building in him as he stared at the blank face of the other.

For a moment he was unsure on how to proceed, anger bubbling in him, the other waiting for him to continue. He realized soon enough however that Mark literally did not think about it, did not have the thought crossing him that he had to eat. Rather he was looking at him as if was surprised, or more like intrigued, by his statement.

His anger faded thanks to the calculating stare as soon as it came, before he shyly added: “Aren’t you feelin’ hungry? At all?”

Left Brain was about to retort with a no, before he could feel his stomach clench, looking down as he glared at it with a hint of betrayal. For a second he wondered how he had not noticed, it was one of their shared functions to realize hunger, thirst and sleep, so he should have without the input. But it seemed as if his new body was still trying to adapt, activating brain cells, slowly but steadily. Again, he was shocked on how his mind was playing tricks on him, learning an entire numeric system and then not being able to pick up on simple needs he had been able to easily discern before. So it was no wonder that Jack was getting worried about the fact that Left Brain was not keeping track of his energy while he himself curiously did, and Mark had to give him right as he nodded.

“I am hungry. Well. It will not hurt to go visit Wade as well, so he can make sure we came home alright.”

Jack sighed a bit in relief, as he smiled up at Mark, a stone falling from his chest. They wanted them both to be at full capacity, so it was reassuring that Left Brain was not fighting him on that front, taking that little win for his account.

But arriving at Dusk-Street dampened both of their moods almost immediately again, able to tell from afar that something odd was happening, Jack walking faster to reach his destination. For a moment both brain halves were confronted with a wall of people, looking at each other, questioning themselves if it was worth the time. But then they could hear Teddy’s angered scream and Jack decided in an instant that he wanted to go look, glancing up at Left Brain for confirmation. As the other was still contemplating though, Jack dwindled his way through, Mark following swiftly, before they stood in front and looked around for the reason of so many gathering.

“And I’m going to tell you again, you gremlin! Get down from there, right this instant!”

Both heard Teddy’s annoyed voice a second time, who stood by the door of the café, looking up onto the roof, Wade right by her side as he was shaking his head. Mark and Jack followed their gaze, only to realize that a boy was standing on the railing, the way too long sleeves of his orange sweater lazily being swung around.

“Nah, auntie! I’m gonna put up the lights!”

“Not on the roof, you comedian! It’s way too dangerous so get your feet on ground again!”

“You’re no fun! The lights will look great up here!”

“And fall on somebody’s head, crushing them! Those are lanterns, where do you even want to secure them?! Now git! You freeloader don’t have respect for nobody!”

The only response the boy gave was to stick his tongue out, as Right and Left Brain got closer, Jack tapping on Wade’s shoulder, the worker turning to him.

“So I wasn’t dreaming yesterday, huh?”

“I am afraid not,” Left Brain shook his head, “So your morning was adventurous as well?”

“Kind of, if you mean coming to work to a bunch of people staring at a roof and watching Teddy scream, then sure.” He grinned as he put his hands in his hoodie pockets, nodding up. “He’s been up there for half an hour, doesn’t want to move an inch.” Then he lifted an eyebrow. “What do you mean with “as well”? What were you guys…?“

“Oh, you two tourists again.”

The three man looked down at the café owner as she had her broom in her hand, tapping it slightly on the ground in annoyance. She seemed frazzled, annoyed and probably worried as she glared up, Right Brain feeling a cold shudder going through him thanks to her burning stare of fury.

Still Mark tried to be polite beside the situation as he noted: “Indeed. And up there is your nephew, if I see correctly?”

Teddy just sighed, as she held her head with one hand, grumbling: “Great observation, four eyes… Spencer is going to kill me one day…”

Jack grinned softly, already aware that the little guy was known for various pranks of the more dangerous sort, not to mention trouble. It was really no wonder he would be trying to cause a little mischief now that he was on break and it was more a surprise that he was all alone standing there, not having roped anybody else into his shenanigans.

Right Brain had to giggle.

Back then Bo roped the other village children into his antics all the time, putting all his might in putting bees in their bonnets as well. And when he got older, he was proud to say that he might have been the one who had filled the younger ones heads with these kind of thoughts. As a teenager they always asked him for help, usually hoping that he would come up with an even better plan on the run for their ideas. You could always count on the fact that Bo was never opposed to well-planned pranks, jokes or comedy acts, as long as they were well meaning.

And after he stopped helping, the children he taught, taught the even younger ones.

That was nice.

Jack could almost see Bo in Spencer, the way he stood there proudly with his crossed arms, his intentions only laying in helping out. Bright eyes full of fire and a grin so wide it was splitting his face in half, his stance showing he was proud of his idea and standing behind it.

Right Brain’s chest felt lighter and he grinned with, his mind providing him with the thought of wanting to join.

Left Brain however was less thrilled about the boy on the roof, knowing that Teddy was right about the child’s safety, the other villagers wondering about how to get the boy down. They had no ladders nearby, all stored at the square, and the people who went to get one were still not back.

“How did he even end up perched on the roof?” Mark spoke up, lifting an eyebrow.

“Ha! It was easy!” Spencer grinned as he sat down on the slanted roofing tiles, proudly declaring, “But I’m not gonna tell you!”

Left Brain stared up with a half lidded gaze, crossing his arms, while Wade chuckled into his hand, seemingly having a great time with those antics. There while Teddy was pushing her broom up, trying to hit the boy as warning, but missing his feet every single time which were dangling from the border. Annoyed grunts left her and Mark took a moment to himself to think about how the rascal had done it.

Then he glanced beside him, noting dully that his other half had been much too silent the whole conversation through, noticing that Right Brain was nowhere to be seen.

Looking around to find him, already preparing to remind the other to not vanish all the time, his face a small frown, he could hear whispers instead. They reached his ears immediately and after watching the people behind him he could see what they were talking about, looking around the corner of the café as Teddy and Spencer started arguing again.

While Mark blinked, Jack was gripping parts of the brick wall the café was built of, holding on as he stuck his tongue out in concentration. Somehow he managed to get a hold on the creeks of the wall, some of the vines that were growing over it his rope. He was not surprised that Jack had seen the green carpet of leaves, Bo knowing the children better than they did themselves, so for Right Brain to have a nose for their tricks was simply fact. Still, as impressed as Mark was, he was sure if Teddy saw him stepping over her climbing roses he would be hearing from her until the next century, so he looked away swiftly but an idea brewing in mind.

“I guess you must be magical if you have the power to appear on the roof with no assistance what so ever, are you not?”

Spencer looked down at the red head, as he grinned, his freckled cheeks puffing up as he replied: “You can bet on that, mister! Nobody can do what I can do!”

“Are you sure?” Left Brain lifted an eyebrow, “Would you come down if somebody did? Who is just as magical as you?”

“Ha! Nice try! No one can do it!”

“Promise you get down when I prove you wrong?”

“Sure! Get up here!”

Mark shook his head, as he instead pointed behind the boy, the village people giggling as Spencer frowned in confusion. Then he saw the people wave up to him, but not at him, so he looked behind his back, having to gasp as he saw Jack standing there. For a moment Spencer looked like he was about to fall off the roof, but caught himself as Jack crouched down, smiling.

“I guess I am magical! Who would have thought?”

For a second the boy gaped at him, before he grinned, jumping up as he put his hands behind his head: “Yeah! That was so cool, I didn’t think anybody would do it!”

Jack leant forward as he put his hands to the others ear, whispering: “Better not tell yer aunt how our magic trick worked or we both get in a whole lotta trouble, kay? Plus I think it’s best to get down, you did promise just now and Teddy will turn into a real storm if we don’t, whatcha say?”

The boy pouted a bit at that, but shrugged, mumbling: “I guess…”

Jack put on a thoughtful face as he scratched his cheek, not sitting well with him how disappointed the child looked, before he nodded downwards, Spencer watching him with confusion. As the green head then grinned mischievously, standing up and leaning near the border, Spencer gasped in happiness, hurrying to do the same. Before Mark, Teddy or anybody else could stop them, Jack picked the boy up and jumped down, landing on his feet with a proud grin.

“Was this necessary?” Mark inquired then crossly, as Jack carefully put Spencer down, who was cheering like he won the lottery, “This was an uncalled, dangerous action.”

“But it was fun!”

“How does jumping off a roof equal fun?”

“You should try it!”

“Definitely not. As fun as it supposedly was up there, jumping down with the rush of adrenalin, this was hazardous and not in favour of any kind.”

“Besides having fun! Would you want us to stay up there all week and miss the festival?” Jack just laughed, as he glanced at the boy beside him who was giggling, “It’s gonna start in a few days and we don’t wanna miss it with bein’ on the roof!”

“Right!” Spencer agreed as he nodded up at Jack before he turned to Mark, “You two gonna come too?! You both are masters in magic, so you gotta!”

Blinking, Mark turned his gaze towards Spencer: “Me as well? How come?”

Spencer snorted jovially into his hands as Mark tilted his head, before the boy responded: “You distracted me! While you talked I couldn’t hear the other coming! You two worked together, like the magicians on television, so you both are!”

Right Brain swelled a bit with pride as he heard that, while Mark blinked, his mouth turning into a fine line at the words. But before he could dwell deeper, the boy jumped up and held him by his sleeve, batting his eyelashes as he pleaded: “So you misters gonna come, right?”

“Of course!” Jack answered, “Right, L-…?”

“Yes we will,” Mark interrupted promptly, shaking the child off, “We will.”

And soon enough the crowd dispersed either down the street or into the café, which was finally open as most preparations were on break for this morning, Wade leading the two brain halves into the local. As Teddy was taking Spencer by the arm back to the kitchen, surely to make sure to punish him for being so reckless, Wade assured them they could have a free meal for all the trouble they had gotten through. As he gave them their breakfast they told him about their encounter with Nina and their plans, Wade reminding them that they should hurry if they wanted to catch Bob, the owner of the shop, who would surely close for the afternoon to help around a bit more.

Mark just nodded as Jack inhaled his food, hoping that their morning will go on smoothly from now on.


	8. A Wish Brewing

The rest of the day did not go as smoothly as Mark had wanted it to go on.

At first everything seemed rather promising, them leaving the café to go find the electric shop. But soon enough Left Brain realized that Jack was a force to be reckoned with. There was not a single second where Jack did not get distracted by anything on their way, stopping and pointing and mostly dragging him by the arm to see the thing as well. At this point Mark was not sure how many dogs Jack had petted or how many cats he had meowed at, beckoning them closer. He was sure, if the shop had been at the proximity of the park, Mark would have needed to find a leash to keep Jack by his side.

Just as he was about to crawl under the third car today to try to grab a cat, Mark tugged Right Brain by the shirt, forcing him to keep standing. Jack glanced up at Mark with accusing eyes, but let them fall as soon as he saw the snarl on his face, Left Brain pointing across the street.

“Focus. What did I say?”

“Focus.”

“Before that.”

“We shouldn’t get distracted.”

“And what are you doing?”

Jack crossed his arms as he mumbled, answering: “Gettin’ distracted…”

“Exactly,” Mark sighed, shaking his head, “I know you are not used to critical thinking, it is not your function and I understand this week leading up to the festival is important to you. I really understand. But try to just think of what is important right now and try not stand out so much.” He nodded with his head to the car, where Jack almost vanished under a few moments ago. “We do not need unwanted attention.”

But Jack just could not help himself.

He loved the way the flags fluttered in the wind and that animals were everywhere, waiting to be cuddled. The whole city smelled like a gigantic bakery and the people were so giddy and happy today. He could feel the excitement and it vibrated in his soul, buzzing along under his skin and wanting to break out. All of his senses were in over-drive, he was so jumpy that he was prepared to run a marathon if he had the chance.

So he just replied with hardly contained excitement: “But look around you! Isn’t this lovely?! Aren’t you feelin’ excited?!”

“Very. Now let us hurry.”

“Why aren’t you enjoying yerself?” Jack instead asked, not buying Mark’s answer, “The festival is comin’, did ya forget?! The festival! The best festival celebratin’ the best month!”

“Autumn is not a month. It is a season,” Mark corrected, a slight hint of desperation entering his voice.

But Jack replied with puffed out cheeks: “Ya know what I mean!” Then he pouted. “Are you not havin’ any fun at all? Ye don’t think today is important?”

“More important then what? If we are talking about Robert’s well-being, then absolutely. And that is why we have to go. We need to fix the computer as soon as possible.”

Letting the shirt fall from his grasp, Mark turned away from the other, Jack watching him with a tight frown as he kept standing where he was. The happiness he felt dwindled away, knowing the other was dead set on ignoring the festivities, Jack feeling betrayal rise in him. Clenching his fists, he bit his tongue as he saw Mark turning to him, ordering him silently to come. But he was not about to give it up just yet as he put his hands on his waist and nodded with his head to the side.

“Do ya really think we can just rush our way through everythin’? You can’t really think that all the work the others did is useless, can ye?” Jack waved with his arms around him, trying to show his point. “Maybe we could just slow down? Take everythin’ in?”

“What good does that do us?”

Right Brain slumped his shoulders: “Well, it would do us good with helpin’ us to stay calm?”

“I am calm.”

“Ye’re hurrying around though.”

“Walking fast is not comparable to being level-headed. I said I am calm.”

“And ye also said we would spend our time here, ye told Spencer we would come, remember?”

“On the day of the festival. The festival is in three days.”

Jack shook his head as he sighed.

“Left Brain…” he then tried desperately, as his frown deepened, “We could at least stay until evenin’. The store won’t run away. The week won’t go on forever. We have time. And Bo will regret not bein’ here if we run about.”

“He is not here, because he is essentially dead.”

Jack’s heart made a vicious jump, watching Mark’s posture turn straight as an arrow, the red head looking over his shoulder with a half lidded gaze and his glare drilling a hole through his skull. For a moment they just stood there, silence stretching uncomfortably in between, the truth heavily laying itself over them. Mark knew that he had made a strong move, but if his other half did not want to understand the easy way, then he had to take out the heavy baggage. With the two of them being here, Bo was gone. He had tried to tell him once, the fact that he still got his name wrong showing that Jack did not take the situation seriously at all. Jack there while just swallowed, before he closed his eyes, trying to not hiccup as he felt tears rise to his eyes. His determination to prove his point kept him from letting them fall however, trying to shift the conversation to his favour.

Taking a deep breath to regain some confidence he uttered: “But we are alive.”

Mark’s eyes showed no hint of curiosity or anger, just a steady glare as he waited on an explanation, Jack trying to keep his voice from wavering.

“I thought a bit and I realized if we have his memories, he will have ours when he’s back. Even if he’s not here, we still see for him. So… he will miss the festival, because, when we’re back together, he will only remember us runnin’ about.”

Mark’s brows furrowed at Right Brain, who was stretching himself to seem taller and to give his words the certainty he wanted, before the red head turned away from him. Both of them let the words play out once more in their heads, both of them locked in a check-mate, neither of them knowing how to progress.

Another beat of silence.

Finally Mark shook his head as he waved with his hand in a dismissing matter: “I know what you mean, it is obvious you want to stay and watch everything. I understand, as I had said before.”

“You really do?” Jack asked suspiciously, a tint of hope lacing the edges.

“Of course,” Left Brain provided, then shook his head in a grim manner, “But as I also already said, we are on a mission here.”

Exhaling through his nose in disappointment, Jack listened to the other complain once more.

Of course he knew that it was important to get Bo back, but all the hurrying was taking away all the fun they could have, it was just so sad. He just wanted to walk around with Mark for at least one day, talk with him, just let things settle into a good mood, have some fun for once instead of worrying. Bo was always rushing all the time and worried over the smallest of things and now so did Mark. He could actually take a breather, take the chance to calm down for once, but he was not even appreciating the atmosphere to smell the roses and fresh air! It was so hard to break through Bo’s mind to do that and not even separated he seemed to be able to do anything. The other was not having any of it, rushing from one point to the other, trying to fix things. But while doing so, Jack felt as if he was stressing out unnecessarily more, his shoulders sinking as he half heartily listened.

It was a repeating cycle he could not break away from and he shuffled after the other, back in motion.

“It is of utmost importance that we pull ourselves together. We both know that the computer has the ability to fuse Bo together again, so we rely on it. So, to be clear, we are just trying to convince the computer to turn us back.”

And Jack drifted away with his thoughts once again, losing Mark’s voice in the sea of laughter that suddenly assaulted his ears.

It was so incredibly easy for him to just get pulled away from any situation he was in and to put his focus on something else, so it was no wonder that he was searching for the source of laughter with the vigour of a cat stalking for prey. A quick glance to the side provided him with the origin and a light, soft gasp left his mouth, hands folded over his chest as he saw a man standing in front of the fountain they were passing by. He was in the middle of telling a story, hand gestures flying around him, jokes and little movements making the children, as well as adults, who were standing around him, giggle. Jack followed the show with his eyes, his grin spreading wider and wider as he watched, heart jumping.

As he turned to Mark though he could see that he was too involved into his own explanation, missing the whole thing.

“There is always the possibility to find a way to override the system, but the consequences might be massive, which is not necessary to risk. If we find a way to trick it, the outcome could be just as unpredictable, for we do not know how the computer would react. But! Most important here is that we do not get distract-…!”

Choking on his own spit, Mark was cut off harshly, Jack pulling him back by his arm with a happy yelp.

“But look! There is somebody making comedy!”

Frowning Left Brain snapped his arm back to himself, absolutely baffled by the change of emotions the other went through with lightning speed. He gritted his teeth, brushing the other off from him, before he looked over where Jack was pointing, lifting an eyebrow. For a moment they both stood there, watching the comedian entertain, Left Brain crossing his arms while Right Brain was swaying on his feet, listening intently. After a few minutes Mark spoke up again, Jack snapping his head up to him in excitement.

“I see…” he provided slowly, Jacks heart beating even faster, “It does take a lot of preparation, effort and analysing for a joke to reach its audience.”

“And in the end you feel all happy because you made them laugh!”

For the shortest amount of time Left Brain’s mouth moved into a hint of a smile, before he let it fall once more, watching the man further with interest. Jack on the other hand had only eyes for the show as his chest filled itself with warmth, a proud grin crossing his own features.

Both of them knew how much Bo loved comedy and making people laugh, so it was for Jack a great opportunity to clap himself on the back for having distracted Mark. It showed that he could make Left Brain see and that he could make him enjoy the day, even if he had to force him to his luck. Right Brain loved the idea of making it his profession to go around and tell jokes, to cheer people up in any way he could, so this was a great start.

Bo himself had always been so dead set on it as well, until one day the dedication and determination disappeared in a puff of smoke and ashes. Jack had always been tantalizingly close to go back to his old roots, to do what he wanted and loved to do, but was never able to. Maybe it was fear, maybe it was respect, words of others discouraging him or just never regaining the strength to grasp the idea fully and really plant it again. However, and Jack was not sure why, now that he was standing here the wish manifested itself again, taking form and in his eyes absolutely possible as he watched the man bow in front of the people, flashing a grin.

“Well, time to move on.”

And the fun moment was over, as Jack felt Mark put a hand on his shoulder to shake him out of his musings.

“Shenanigans can wait until later. We have more important things to attend to.”

Right Brain felt a sting where he just seconds before felt his hopes rise, looking after the retreating form of his other half, this time following silently. He knew that Left Brain meant well for them, that he did not mean everything as harshly as he said. He could not help himself, that his who he was and Right Brain could understand why he was so on edge.

Jack was not dense.

But it did not make him feel any better that the other was oblivious to the fact that the words he threw hurt, that they had an impact. They hurt more then he was even willing to admit, sucking every ounce of hope out of his chest.

“Yeah. More important then…” he hugged himself, fingernails clawing into his arms to keep them from shaking, “…then comedy…”

Alone his words left a bitter taste in his mouth, as he bit his tongue to will it away. For the slightest moment he felt incredibly sick to his stomach, so he tried not to think about it too much. But it was still there, the knowledge that the chances were slim to become who Bo wanted to be. He tried to regain his posture as he breathed deeply in again, watching as Left Brain made the turn for Main-Street. For a second he felt like he would tumble or lose his footing if he went after him so he stopped in his tracks, watching as Mark disappeared behind the crowd that had separated them in a matter of seconds. Jack was still holding his arm around his chest, trying to keep his face neutral as he wondered if he could slip between the moving body’s to catch up with him.

Left Brain had not even noticed him being gone, too absorbed in his own wants. It was not like he would need to miss him, there was never a reason to, he never asks him for his opinion anyway.

Jack bit his tongue.

Mark was always right, he did not need his opinion.

But was it too much for Right Brain to ask for a right to say something as well and act on his motivations? Left Brain berated him, told him what to do all the time, and it has been going on like that for such a long time. He was just as much in control of Bo as Mark was, so why did he have to bend to his bidding?

Why did he have such a hard time arguing back?

Right Brain had ideas, too.

He was not sure what to call it, the squeamish feeling that was flowing through him, but it was overwhelming. The need to do something against it spread out, even if he was not sure what he had to do exactly, but it was there, pounding behind his rips, wandering to the side of his head and nestling there like a heavy cloud.

“Olivia!! I found him!!”

Just as Jack was about to snap himself out of his thoughtful state, a small weight bumped into his back and he blinked dazedly, stepping forward unconsciously with a soft yelp. For a moment he froze, before he glanced behind him, watching as a girl with straight, jet-black hair glanced up, a bright grin appearing on her face. She had her arms curled around his legs and he jumped a bit to shake her off in his confused state, she losing her grip immediately.

Moving to the side, leaning against the wall to get his bearings back, Right Brain held his head, blinking as he tried sorting first out what made him blank out like that before he wondered why the girl had hugged him out of nowhere. For a moment he had to close his eyes, a small headache appearing, rubbing over his forehead furiously to will it away, before he took a deep breath.

“REALLY??”

Jack had to blink, seeing a second girl rush up to them, a head taller then the first and a way too big, green jacket hanging around her shoulders. She was breathing heavily as she stared at him with a toothy smile, her head whipping to her friend, shouting: “Oh my Gosh, you did!”

“I told you I would!”

“Okay well…” the girl in the jacket looked up, hand under her chin as Jack was still pushing his back against the house wall, “Pretty hard to not see him…”

“Give me credit, Oli…”

“I am! Just saying he’s pretty noticeable!”

“Hey guys.”

Both girls looked up as Jack smiled kindly down, waving with his hand.

“So, I got that surprise tackle because ye were lookin’ for me, huh?”

“We were!” Olivia answered as she tilted her head, pointing at him, “But only if you are Jack!”

Right Brain hesitated, before he replied: “The one and only.”

That was enough confirmation for Olivia and she grabbed her friend by the shoulders, shaking her while screeching into her ear: “Mai, you heard the man! It’s Jack!”

“It is!”

Jack had to chuckle at the both of them, their energy infecting him almost immediately, making him push himself off the wall. He knew the two too well, both of them friends of Spencer and Nina, the four of them better known as the biggest pranksters Pappelcreek had seen in more or less 10 years. Bo loved to watch them doing mischief, for their imagination was the perfect fuel for many incredible stories, some being better received then others. Spencer’s little roof adventure and Nina’s accidental fire were just small examples of their doings, it never got boring around here with that little bunch. The group stuck together like glue, never stopping, running and planning and playing.

But now Jack was unsure on why they had been looking for him then.

Luckily he did not have to ask, as Mai took one of his hands, Olivia the other, both of them looking up to him with face splitting grins, explaining: “We need your help!”

“Help? What kinda help?”

Olivia, being the stronger of the two children, tugged him down as she put her hands around his ear, whispering: “We need help with a surprise for the adults.”

“What kinda surprise?”

“A great one!”

“Huh.”

“It’s about the lights.”

“Lights?”

“More specifically the lanterns… We want to put them up in the forest, but the adults don’t want us walking around there.”

“But it would look incredible if we did,” added Mai helpfully, “And we could show them that we are not scared of any forest! Spencer tried with the roof, but his aunt saw him and Nina accidentally burned the stand down as she stepped on it to reach the window of the bakery.”

“It could have been great, but the adults always say it’s too dangerous… So we thought the forest might be a good place, where they wouldn’t go straight away to check!”

“That’s an amazing idea!” Jack responded, connecting the dots of the incidents, head tilting with a grin. “So lights, huh? Though, it is a bit dangerous I guess, runnin’ around with fire.”

“That’s why we have to do it! We need to show we are grown up!” Olivia decided, her hand in fist in front of her, looking like she was about to throw a fight, “I’m sick and tired of always being handled like a baby! We can surely put up some lights and not be treated as if we are walking bombs!”

“Nobody takes us seriously, just because we do some pranks here and there… We are not dumb! We’re just having fun, so what does it matter when it gets out of hand?” Mai pouted, crossing her arms, “Stuff can go wrong, even adults mess up.”

“Why you guys askin’ me for help?” Jack then decided, for he did not want to dwell deeper into territory he can sympathize in so well, “How do ye even know my name?”

“Nina told us!” Mai grinned.

“And Spencer!” Olivia added.

“They told us you were magic, so we decided we can ask you for advice!”

“Yeah! Because you knew about Nina’s missing bow clip and found out Spencer’s secret without any hint at all! Putting up some lights should be super easy for you, right?”

Jack had to chuckle at that, as he nodded in amusement.

He should have known that the four children would meet up at some point and talk about their experiences. And the idea was endearing, that they wanted to help out, already imagining what it would look like. That is why he grinned brightly, crouching down to them and throwing all caution to the wind, forgetting about the conversation just a few minutes prior: “Well, I guess I can help out! What kind of lights have ye got?”

“Lanterns and candles, we made them in class! I asked some of the other children and they said as long as we four take the blame they would help, too. But because we don’t wanna be found out, we thought we’re gonna ask you! That you help with your wizard powers!”

“Sounds good so far,” Jack laughed, “Tell ya what guys, as soon as I’m done here we can pull it off. You’ll go tell Nina, yeah? Around evening maybe I can do it and use some of my powers, how does that sound?”

“Seriously?!” Olivia cheered, “Perfect!”

“We have to tell the others!”

“Right behind you!”

And gone they were, like the green, white blurs they were. Jack stood up slowly, waving after them and wondering how Mark would react to the idea, before he reminded himself with a start that he had to first tell Mark about the secret meeting with the children. And before he could really worry about the fact that Mark had left him behind, the red head coughed, Jack flinching and turning around to meet him.

“So, you promised more children a favour?”

“Kinda…?”

“You realise I am starting to think you are not taking me seriously.”

“I am! I just…couldn’t help myself.”

Mark shook his head, before he nodded: “I know. I should have figured out that much.”

“Are you mad?”

“No.”

“Sure? Not feelin’ disappointed or any kind of bad either?”

“Jack, I cannot feel bad for I have no emotions.”

“You don’t?”

“Let us end the conversation here.”

And that is what they did, Mark pointing behind him as they were about to reach the electric shop. Both of them were confident that from this point on out it could not get much harder as it already was. Fixing a computer would be no problem.

What could go wrong?


	9. Decisions With Consequences

Everything and anything can always go wrong.

At first their visit started promising, both stepping into the open electric shop and being greeted by various lights blinking in and out of existence, noticing however an eerie quietness. There were no customers, nor employees, everybody in there was gone, probably preparing the last touches for the festival. At first Mark wanted to check if the board was even up, check if the shop was indeed open so they would not repeat the same situation as yesterday.

But then he could see Bob emerge from behind the counter and Jack breathed out a sigh of relief.

Both brain halves were incredibly glad to see him and Right Brain was about to lift his arm to give Bob their usual greeting, before Mark slapped it down, going with: “Good day. We have a question regarding our damaged central processing unit.”

“Oh, good day to you two, too. Well, let me see if I can help,” Bob smiled politely, “What kind of computer are we dealing with?”

As Mark explained what had happened and what the problem was, Bob listening intently, Jack had at first tried to follow the conversation, before he got bored and started to walk around the aisles. The words were too complicated and the room was full of trinkets he could look at, plus the shop was only a few feet wide, so he was not breaking the rules.

And man, that shop was really full of grey metal plates and shiny light bulbs.

While Jack regarded himself in the reflecting surfaces, grinning and brushing his hair in place that was falling into his eyes from time to time, he wondered how many people visited here. For sure a lot, everybody needed help with their equipment from time to time and nowadays most people really had no clue anymore how these things even worked.

Something about hard-light and nerve-impulses and chips.

Was that right? Were they called chips?

He was already hungry again.

Thinking about it, Bo was not too fond of technology really, not of the new achievements anyway. He had a phone and he had a laptop he used frequently, but now with robots roaming the streets and people using them for the simplest things, he felt awkward. He was not used to robots greeting him suddenly, asking him for trash to burn, or for every door to use a new kind of passcode. Maybe he just jumped on too late, or he was just the older generation that “preferred paper-bound books instead of tiny apps on phones” like his dad had loved to say. Just that Bo was a generation further ahead, Right Brain mused. Or it had to do with the fact that he lived in a village, where change always went on slow, who knows?

Anyhow, Jack, who now had a frightening experience with a sentient computer behind him, was excited to roam here. As he walked around, observing what was laying in the shelves, he touched everything he could with an interested expression.

The shop itself was pretty nice, it was tiny, warm from the electronics buzzing and beeping, and he felt calm with the presence of the other two chatting in the background. The light was not stark like the one in the lab but orange and welcoming, his feet leading him to the corner of the shop. There he was met with a crate, packed with game cases and he stopped, blinking for a moment. He wondered if there were any new games coming out, it was going to be autumn and the winter afterwards was incredibly boring with the amount of snow blocking his path to the outside world every single year. A new distraction would be pretty nice so he directed his attention to them, looking for something that might catch his interest.

But as he was about to shuffle through them, Mark called back to him, asking: “You are not doing any mischief, are you?”

“No!” Jack called back, “Just looking!”

“Do not touch anything that breaks!”

“I won’t!”

Then one of the games slipped from his hand, landing on the ground with a thud.

“It didn’t break!”

Mark just shook his head, still intently listening for the other to not suddenly let out another yelp, hoping that the shop was child proof. He was unsure on how far the change had gone on highlighting certain aspects of Bo’s personality on both of them, so he was careful to keep a watchful eye on the other, the clumsiness still sitting in the back of his mind. He was sure Jack was incredibly curious about everything, so it was better to check then to regret later, still looking back as Bob peeped up with a dejected look on his face.

“I’m sorry to say but from the sounds of it, it doesn’t look good. To be frank, that model is ancient and if it really hit the ground it could be fried beyond repair. I would only know for sure if I took a look at it.”

“Do you have a replacement?” Mark frowned, “We only have that one computer and it has some data I need to work on. It is important that we have a processor.”

“I’m really sorry, but we don’t have any on stock. Nowadays nobody asks for a whole new computer in the same day, usually it’s only small repairs we do. And that really doesn’t sound like a small one at all. You could give it to me and I’ll do my best, but I can also call my colleague from the city for a new one, but it would take a day, maybe two, for it to arrive.”

Mark went silent at that as he thought his options through.

“I guess both options are acceptable, whichever comes to pass first will have to do. Can you call me up whenever our computer is fixed or the other is here?”

“Of course I can, just hand me your number.”

However as Mark repeated Bo’s home phone number, Bob scribbling it down and finally having a chance to look properly at him, he tilted his head, his face thoughtful, before he asked: “Are you the tourist everybody is talking about?”

“It depends on what is talked about around the village,” Mark just replied, a brow lifting slowly.

Bob gave a quick grin, as he leant down on the table, arms crossed: “Oh, nothing bad really.” He pointed. “Hair mostly.”

Mark sighed as he put his head in his hands, nodding with a: “Yes. I thought so.”

“Well, people rumour around that you two know Bo, because you seem to live with him now? Not to be rude, just asking.”

“It is true. We are his cousins,” the red head provided, already noting the confused frown on Bob’s face, “It is the genes.”

“I see. He never mentioned you before, but he’s usually not much for a talk anyway nowadays.”

“He really is not.”

And that was because Mark despised useless chatter.

Even though he had the lingual part of both, it was incredibly troubling for him to keep a meaningless conversation going. Bob meant well, he had helped, but Mark was having a hard time deciding on what to say to display it as naturally as he could now that the problem was over and done with. Having to talk for the sole reason of talking was tiring and it was slowly grating on his nerves.

Unless he felt uncomfortable with the other person he was having a conversation with he could not keep his mouth moving for longer than necessary.

Bo was the same in that regard.

Even though he had much to say, his mind filled with ideas and thoughts and sounds, he never feels confident enough sharing them with others until they were perfect, too afraid of what they might think if he slipped up. There was that childish time of not having had to worry about a mistake, where words flew freely and unrestrained, but with time?

To step into a conversation and take the word, it was often followed by a rush of what ifs and how things could have been said better in that single moment, a bundle of letters tying one’s tongue no matter how hard they had been thought through.

And now, while Mark knew he had to talk to get information, knew he was confident in his speech pattern, back in his mind it was a chore. He was never meant to socialise, not on such a level.

Looking over his shoulder he could see Right Brain approaching and his mind went to the way Jack handled conversations.

He was open, he was not afraid to say what he thought, as unnecessary or potentially embarrassing it was. The control switch to keep his thoughts in was non-existent and he did not seem to care one bit about it. Not even now, as he started to talk to Bob, telling him that this was the cosiest shop he has been in in a while, not having any inhibitions what so ever. Here a slip of the tongue, there a miss of a word, and all combined with the curious accent that made it even harder to understand him when he was chatting away excitedly. It was as if he was afraid he would forget what he was about to say, curious as ever, he asks and responds then with another inquiry.

Like in childish times.

Like a child.

And that is why, sadly, he never asks the important questions, never sees the next step he should be taking, never considers his next move.

Never knows what is important.

“Well, it was nice meeting you two,” Bob then interrupted Mark’s thoughts harshly, pointing behind him, “I’ll be off now, but I’ll try to fix it as fast as possible, no worries. Just send me a drone as soon as you get home.”

With that both brain halves left the shop, outside in the sunshine again.

For a moment Jack relished the feeling on his skin, knowing autumn was right at their doorsteps, followed by winter, so he enjoyed that bit of nice weather before the whole world would turn into a blizzardy mess of white, boots and coats on wherever you went. Glancing around he loved to see the people taking lazy strolls, appreciating the decorations, the feeling from before vibrating in his soul.

“What are we gonna do now?”

“Go see Wade.”

“Oh that’s lovely! What’s the occasion?”

“I need his computer.”

“What?” Jack could not believe his ears. “Why?”

“I need to work on the data and Robert’s computer is for the time being dead as a stick. I will take Wade’s one, go home and then send the drone so we can achieve a minimal amount of break in between.”

And here was the feeling of bitterness again, sickening Jack as he crossed his arms. Of course Mark would try to go about and try to hinder himself in having fun, typical of him. Always work and work, this was getting depressing. But he could not object to it for Mark was already leading the way and a bit of hope was there that Wade would be elusive to find, as it somehow was always the case. Or he would tell Left Brain that his computer was off limits in some way. There was always hope his computer breaks down as well and they would need to spend the time without one in their possession.

But then again, that was mean of him to think that way.

“Yesterday you took Bo’s computer into the guestroom,” Jack then decided on his conversation topic, trying to make the silence bearable, “Why didn’t ye stay in Bo’s and let me sleep in the other?”

“Why the question?”

“Seemed weird, I dunno.”

Mark waved a dismissive hand as he explained: “The guestroom let’s in more daylight than Robert’s does. Artificial light hinders productivity. The guest room is also the warmest room in the house, the heat accumulates there the best, another reason it works as an excellent work space.” Then he shrugged. “Plus, the Wi-Fi there actually works decently.”

“Oh. That’s neat.”

“I presume so.”

Again, Right Brain’s focus shifted as he looked around, breathing the air in and forgetting for a moment why he had been so mopey. The explanation sounded solid, so he really was not going to ask further, not wanting to dwell on it much longer. Instead he felt his chest expand, a sigh escaping him.

Everything about today was so perfect, he could not find another word for it.

Yes, the day had started a bit miserable, but hey! They were here! Outside! And everybody was nice and he actually had talked to the children and made plans and excitement was everywhere. He knew the next days would be full of it, everybody would bustle about and there was just nothing that could destroy the atmosphere they were moving in. So what did it matter if they went to Wade? The walk there could turn out nice!

Or even better, maybe they did not have to go straight away in search for him?

That is why Jack grinned and looked at the sky, watching one of the villagers blowing up balloons, the colours reflecting off from the rubber and painting patterns on the house walls.

“Left Brain! Let us stay longer!”

“Mark.”

“Huh?”

As he snapped his head back, confusion written on his face, Mark had his arms crossed in front of him, lazily looking around at the stands before he responded: “We are in public, Jack.” He emphasized the name as he pointed with his thumb to himself afterwards. “Out here I am Mark.”

“Oh!” Jack squeaked, realising his mistake, “I forgot about that!” Then he grabbed on to his other halves arm. “Mark! Mark, let us stay longer!”

A solid minute went by before Left Brain had composed himself once more, furrowing his eyebrows as he responded with a simple, and effective: “No.”

Afterwards he shook his arm, trying to get Jack off from clinging onto him, his stare burning itself into the green head. He had quite enough of his shenanigans already, fed up to the nose with them, and his eyes narrowed.

“Look,” he grumbled, his hand waving between them, “We have to get to Wade and somehow find a solution to this. It has gone long enough already and it is an absolute waste of our efforts to move around for the plain want of it. He will give us the computer and we will use it for our benefit of coming together again, understood?”

And there he was again, complaining.

And Jack was getting tired of it.

“UGH! It’s always the same with ya!” Jack barked back, hands outstretched to his side as he glared, “It’s always “go there”, “do this”, and “let’s not” with ya! Ye always tell me what to do but never do what I wanna do! You never listen to me! You never let me be in charge!”

Mark narrowed his eyes at him but Jack felt relieved to say it out loud, to say what he had been mulling over for the longest time.

He was never in charge.

And he desperately wanted to be.

Bo was his responsibility as well and Mark never let him do anything, so standing here and saying it to Left Brain’s face felt like he was given a powerful push, an opportunity to fight back for once. He felt anger rise in him, his chest and mouth burning with words he wanted to spit out, wanting to spread them in front of him for the other to see. But instead, disappointment filled the hollow space forming in his chest as nothing came out, his throat locking up at the sight of the other analysing him. The realisation hit that he could never outtalk the other, no matter how truthful his words were.

And so he let his arms fall, eyes scanning the floor while the other fumed silently.

“If you would just give me a chance…” Right Brain then sighed after moments of silence, looking up with a discouraged face, “I could show you how much fun we could have…”

But it seemed as if Mark was having none of it as he grabbed Jack by the wrist, making the green head flinch terribly, before he tugged him closer. Now that Jack and Mark were face to face, Jack felt even smaller, a tremble speeding through his spine and he swallowed thickly while Mark snarled at him with barred teeth.

“Oh really now?!” he barked into his face, Jack gulping, “You want to be in charge?!?”

Jack nodded timidly.

“Go ahead and show me how you deal with our responsibility to get him back then!” Mark huffed, letting him go with a disgusted motion before moving his hand to the side in a dramatic gesture, “Let’s see how much fun we will have!”

But instead of feeling intimidated, Jack’s eyes widened in realisation, his heart skipping a beat. He had to blink once, then twice, Mark still breathing heavily after his short outburst. Then the green head barrelled into the other, hugging and hanging on to him at the same time, his arms and legs looped around the red head. Pressing his cheek against the other, he knocked the glasses into a crooked position but did not care the slightest bit.

“I’m in charge?? Are ya serious?!!” he gushed, squeezing Mark harder, “Oh, Left Brain! You won’t regret it, I promise!!”

Mark on the other hand realised his mistake the second Jack had pressed his cheek to his own and regretted his decision immediately.

He failed to understand why he had acted that way. He never let himself go, he concluded, calculated and did not use threat as a way to convey his logic. He had even grasped Jack by the wrist once more, regardless of having told him he would not. And even the proposal of letting Jack in charge was a terrible idea in general. He would lose concentration, he would lose time, so why had Mark given him that huge amount of responsibility?

Why did he do that?

Jack was still hanging on to his side, hugging him like a gigantic teddy bear and Left Brain sighed, replying: “Mark… It is still Mark.”

“Right, right!” Right Brain just laughed instead, before he pressed his cheek harder against the other, grinning, “Thank you, Mark!”

Rolling his eyes, Left Brain just sagged his shoulders, mumbling: “You can let go now, Jack.”

And that is what he did, giving Mark a last squeeze around the shoulders, afterwards jumping onto the ground with the brightest, widest grin Mark had ever seen on the other plastered on his face, which was remarkable to say the least.

But now what?

“Do say,” Mark then tilted his head, his decision weighting heavily on him and trying to salvage whatever kind of goal they had in pushing Jack into the right direction, “As the person in full charge, what are you planning to do now?”

Jack hesitated, as he put a finger to his mouth, sucking on his bottom lip in thought. Then he snapped his fingers as he replied: “We gonna go see Nina! This is perfect, I did tell the others that I would tell them when I’m ready, and that’s what I am now!” He stopped, as he gazed up to Mark sheepishly. “I guess you heard what they’ve planned?”

Nodding, Left Brain crossed his arms, trying to form an escape plan with the goal of reaching Wade, but keeping quiet about it as he answered: “I did.”

“Great!” Jack laughed relived, “No need to explain then! Are ye okay with that?”

Mark blinked.

For a second he was just too baffled to answer, believing he did not hear right, before he finally mumbled: “Jack, you are in charge. Just a second ago I put you in charge, did I not?”

“I know, but I wanted to make sure!”

“And I told you that you are in charge. You asked for that.”

“I know!” Jack grinned, “But if I plan something I want you to be okay with it!”

Mark had to shake his head as he put a hand to his forehead. Then he looked up and tried to simplify, his eyes narrowing: “If you are in charge I automatically do what you say, that is how it works, that is how it is.”

“But I wanted to make sure!”

“I am in the clear that you planned something with the children and I have nothing against it.”

“So it’s okay?”

“Yes, Jack, it is.”

Jack went quiet, rubbing his neck in thought, before he repeated worriedly: “So you have nothin’ against doin’ something I wanna do.”

“No.”

Right Brain tilted his head: “Are ya sure? Really sure?”

Left Brain felt like he was going to implode as he lifted his arms to the side, bending down to his counterpart as he repeated slowly and steadily: “Jack. You are in charge. You are in control. You can do whatever you want right now.”

“But do you wanna do what I wanna do?”

Now Mark clapped his hand over his eyes, breathing slowly in, trying not to hit something in his vicinity, mainly the one standing before him. He could feel his temples throbbing, a sadly known occurrence, and he let his fingers move over his nose and mouth. Then he mumbled, forcing every word out as Jack still looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes.

“Jack,” Mark repeated again, “You. Are. In. Charge.”

But the other only retorted: “That’s why I’m askin’!”

“That’s why…?”

“…I’m askin’! I’m askin’ if ye’re okay with it!”

Backing away slightly, Left Brain had to rearrange his thoughts, staring at the other with unbelieving eyes. Did he not understand what being in charge meant? Was he not aware that he had exactly what he wanted? Why was he asking him if he accepted his proposal? There was no need for it. His head pounded as Right Brain noticed how he had gotten quiet, the worry from before deepening and he stepped closer this time.

“So you’re really gonna be okay if I say where we go to?”

Mark had to shake his head as he registered the other being under his nose and nodded.

“Yes, as said. Yes.” He sighed. “Jack, I 100 percent approve with putting up lights with the children. I do not mind at all and I will do what you say. If you say we go see Nina, we will do it, if you want to take a break, you do not have to ask me, you do it and I will as well for that matter. I put you in charge, it was my decision to give you responsibility, so you are wielding over us two now.”

“…Sure?”

“Yes Jack, for the last time. I am absolutely sure.”

And so finally Jack grinned, Mark once again absolutely speechless by the amount of emotions flashing across the other’s face. Before he could really note them Jack was walking away, his feet already in motion towards Nina. Then he just as fast stopped, walking backwards into Mark, who stood there with lifted eyebrows as Jack nipped his head back and looked upside down at him.

“Do ye know where Nina is?”

“She told us she would either be at the square or the park. And as it is, if we head off for the later, we will inevitably walk past her in either places.”

“Good call! Thank you!”

“You are… you are welcome.”

And off Jack went once more, Mark shaking his head as he righted his glasses. For a single moment he felt accomplished by the fact that Jack had listened to him over something important without a single complaint. No hint of hesitation, no questions. It was refreshing and at the same time unusual, but he could not really wonder about it, as Jack suddenly stopped, looking back at Mark.

“What is wrong this time?”

“Before we go find Nina, we’ll help out.”

“Help out with what?”

Pointing to the side, Mark followed Jack’s thumb and he could see a few villagers struggling to put up a banner, a sigh leaving through his nose. He should have known that they would not move in a straight line to their destination. He should also have known that Jack would not hesitate to just walk in, offering a hand, the people at first staring before they shrugged and pointed for him where to grab on. And because he was with Jack, the hair an undeniable proof that they belonged together in some way, he had to come closer as well, doing his best to reach up to get the cloth in position. While he did so, he wondered how he should proceed from here.

Giving Jack responsibility was dangerous, it always had been.

And the pieces of information he had been reading through before the computer had died on him were still nagging at him in the back of his mind.

And the longer he stood there, watching Jack on his tip toes, trying to reach the window hook so he could put the banner on, the longer the thought persisted that they were in for a wild ride. A ride he was not willing to be on and cursing every second he had been distracted. If he had kept close eye on Jack he would not have get lost or run off, if Mark had been stricter, Jack would not have questioned his authority.

Maybe they would have found a solution already at this point.

Maybe it would have never come this far.

Definitely, everything and anything can always go wrong and Mark gritted his teeth as Jack let out a whoop and cheer, the banner proudly hanging over the street for everybody to see.


	10. The Paper-Boat-Pond

“So… That’s a bad thing?”

“I do have to say I regret my decision.”

Wade tapped with his fingers over his lips as he lifted an eyebrow at Mark, who had his eyes, even though he was talking to Wade, focused on Jack. In that time the green head was in the middle of carrying a box to one of the stands, talking to the owners.

“I don’t see why. He’s doing pretty well, isn’t he?”

Mark’s eyes lifted and he shook his head, giving his full attention to his friend beside him, before replying: “My experiences tell me that soon enough some mishap will occur.”

“Now, come on…” Wade smiled warmly, hands now in his pockets, a small yawn escaping him in the process, “I think you should trust him a bit more! I know you explained that he’s the creative one and what not but that doesn’t mean he…”

The next thing he wanted to say was swallowed down as both of them flinched, hearing a shattering sound followed by a loud crash, the sound of a cat screeching and finally the tell-tale sound of a can rolling away. A small “Whoops” added into the mix right after and Mark, who had his back to the mess stared at Wade with an unimpressed face, not even needing to turn to see what had happened. Wade on the other hand slumped his shoulders in defeat, murmuring something incoherent as he stared at the ground.

He had been here talking to Mark for a while, realising soon enough that the two brain halves were not really what you called a hand and a glove.

Bickering was the first thing he had been confronted with on his way home as Mark and Jack were in the middle of the street, Wade drawn to them by their voices. The next thing had been him watching from afar how they helped put a banner up, Jack smiling while Mark had been glaring daggers at him through the whole procedure. Before the green head decided that he would help out more, he caught Wade from the corner of his sight, greeting him happily. Left Brain on the other hand updated Wade by their newest predicament and after Wade had assured him that he could lend his laptop Mark had started to complain about the other, who was busy carrying boxes for a stand further down the street.

It was not really complaining per se, Wade added in his mind, it was more fact stating on what Jack did and did not do and whatever it was logical or not.

Which was most of the time a negative.

But Wade knew that neither of them could help it, and was therefore even more perplexed at the fact that neither of the brain halves seemed to understand. Of course Jack was not logical and of course Mark hurried, that was how it should be, but they seemed to see everything in black and white.

God, he was too tired for this, rubbing his eyes.

Still, he was in good spirits, one glance back to Right Brain showing the damage was really non-existent and therefore there was no reason to be angered.

Not that the other was, he seemed more calculating then anything else. As if he was solving a mathematical equation to see when the next misstep was to be predicted, following Jack’s every move once more. Apprehensive Wade followed Mark’s face movements, pupils wandering around with a precision and concentration that made him swallow. His stomach made a slight flip, noticing the cold stare, not being able to describe it as anything else as inhuman.

Before he could think about it more, Jack skipped his way back to them, grinning and pointing to the park: “Ready to go?”

“I have been ready for an hour now.”

Wade glanced first at Left then at Right Brain, realising he was holding his breath.

“That’s great! So ye’re super ready!”

And now he chuckled, the sheer naivety the other sported balancing out the careless attitude Mark was cloaking himself with. Still, it was apparent that Mark was not fond of Jack running about, doing what he thought was important and helpful, while Right Brain was thinking the opposite. Wade was unsure what he thought at this point, both having valid points but he could not blame either one.

He just had to see how it would unfold he realised as Jack turned to him, asking what he was going to do now.

“Honestly? I was on my way home. I’m tired and Teddy wants me back at full capacity this evening to work some stuff over.” He glanced at Mark. “I’ll take the laptop with me in any case, you two do whatever, alright?”

Mark really wanted to retort that he rather wanted to follow him and take the device by himself, but Jack butted in, agreeing with Wade: “Sure! We’ll have a lovely time out here, right, Left Brain?”

“Mark.”

“Mark! Right!”

Another yawn escaped Wade, before the three of them separated, the brain halves waving Wade goodbye. Their next step was then to head off into the opposite direction, the park already appearing. In a huff Mark had to grab Jack by the hem of his shirt, so he would not sprint off, while Right Brain looked back, pouting.

“I’m in charge!”

“I know that.”

“Then let me go and walk faster!” Jack laughed good natured, pulling Mark’s fingers from his shirt and instead pointing behind him, “Ye always hurry, here’s your chance!”

But Left Brain was not a bit amused as he let go, shaking his head and watching as Right Brain sprinted ahead of him, at this point not really caring all too much if they were hurrying or not. He would not receive Wade’s computer until later this evening and up to that point everything else was a waste of their time anyhow. Still, as Jack vanished behind the hill that sloped down to the park, Mark quickened his pace to not let him out of his eyesight.

One mishap was enough for today and the chances of a bigger one were massive.

To his luck however he spotted his other half immediately, more specifically climbing up a tree, and he stepped under it, watching Jack while the green head looked around, examining it.

“Again?” Mark inquired.

“They are neat!” Jack replied, “Look how colourful this one is! Autumn is great, I like autumn!”

“You could, I don’t know, let’s say, gaze at it from below,” Mark sarcastically proposed, “There is no need to climb up the bark.”

But Jack shook his head: “It’s more fun that way!”

“Until you lose footing and fall, breaking every single one of your limbs. Do you want that?”

“Course not!”

“Then get down from there or I will be the one to push you down.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

Mark lifted an eyebrow and Jack could read in his face that, yes, he absolutely would do it, presented the chance. But he also said that Jack could do whatever he wanted, so he just grinned, shook his head and climbed higher, Mark gritting his teeth. Soon after he heard a loud cheer, echoing around them and he clapped his hand over his eyes, his glasses sliding down his nose, hoping that the little adventure would satisfy Jack’s energy level.

But there was one good thing about it all, Nina had heard them and Mark saw her from the corner of his eyes as she sprinted to his side.

At least they did not have to go look for her anymore, the one thing he really did not want to add to his list was more looking around for people. She must have been preoccupied by the lake somewhere, for he saw her hair was still wet, strands of it sticking on her face, her dress damp.

“Hello, mister!” she gasped heavily, her breath still trying to regenerate, “Where’s Jack?”

Left Brain pointed up to the leaves and she followed his direction.

And finally Jack poked his head out, waving down at the two of them.

“Hi, Nina! Watcha doin’?”

“Still looking for my hairclip,” she gloomily answered, Mark concluding that she actually had been diving for it in her search, before her face lit up, “But that’s okay! You are going to help with…!” then she started to whisper, so no stray adult would hear her, “…the lights, right?”

“Yeah! We both will!” Jack grinned.

Nina’s head whipped to Mark and she took his hand, he flinching at the unexpected contact, before she thanked him: “That’s amazing! With two adults nothing can go wrong!”

“No need to thank me,” Mark answered with a grumble, trying to pry her fingers off from his, but she persisting, “You only have to thank Jack. He’s responsible.”

“No matter! I’m glad both of you are here!”

Soon enough she lead both of them with her towards the lake, Mark being pulled by the hand while Jack jumped ahead, turning to Nina once in a while to ask her where she had gone off to look for the missing accessory. Both of them were starting to tick away where it was not, figuring out where she might have lost it while Mark involuntarily made a remark here and there. He either agreed with the ideas, like the fact that it could be still in her room, or dismissing them, for example the idea of the hair clip having been eaten by a sock monster.

Just as Jack was about to argue that it might maybe not have been a sock monster but a hairclip monster, they reached the lake and Right Brain lay himself out on his stomach, reaching with his hands into the water. There he grinned widely and picked rocks out of it, the smooth surfaces perfect to skip them.

“I thought we were going to hang up lanterns.”

Jack was already throwing one of the rocks, Nina excitedly counting the jumps it did, before she turned back to the red head and announced: “We will! But we still have to wait for the others. They’re trying to come over here as stealthy as possible, but that takes time. Jack did say evening!”

Mark had one hand over his eyes as he nodded, sighing a bit.

“And ye’re sure your hair clip is not in there?” Jack there while decided to enquire.

“Nah… I’m sure I lost it around my house but I thought it would be possible it’s fallen off in here. And it was warm anyway, so I jumped in!”

“Makes sense! You like swimmin’?”

“Love it!”

“Bo is not much of a swimmer.”

“He isn’t?” Nina grinned up, curiosity filling her.

And Jack laughed as he shook his head: “Nah. He isn’t fond of it that much. Like… the creatures are cool! But bein’ in there with them, rather not.”

Nina listened intently, smiling warmly while Mark crossed his arms and let his eyes wander, taking note of the place around them. He was not too interested in their small talk, keeping track but rather not focusing on it. Instead he was content with observing his surroundings, overlooking the park and reinforcing his mental image of it. It was not cut off by the rest of the village with fences or walls, but it was simply the rule to not build near, the stone plates and wood streets dwindling into plain, green terrain. The whole village was covered with hills, so the park as well, trees scattered in groups or all alone around the lake. The ponds origin was right in the middle of the low valley and it was continuously bubbling with fresh water, the recess flowing in a soft stream through a gap into the forest, further down below, getting lost.

It’s original name had been simply Moon-Lake, as it was found by night when pilgrims were looking for water and food many centuries ago, but now everybody preferred to call it Paper-Boat-Pond, the reason behind it the fact that back when loved ones died, they would write a letter to the deceased. Folding it into squares or a floatable piece, they would throw it into the lake, so the well wishes would get carried away into the darkness and to the world beyond.

“That’s interesting!”

Mark recoiled as he found Nina by his side.

“Pardon me?”

“You mumble when you think. Like Bo does!”

“I do?” Mark blinked, “Robert does?”

The girl nodded: “Yeah! I didn’t know that’s why it’s called Paper-Boat-Pond! I thought it’s because of us! Because we always put leaves and paper on it for races! It’s fun when they vanish behind the edge!”

“Back when Robert was a child he thought the same, until classes taught him otherwise.”

“Doesn’t mean we can’t still do it!” Jack interjected Mark’s explanation and before anybody could say anything he had jumped in, spraying water everywhere.

Nina laughed so hard tears sprung to her eyes and without any hesitation joined him in the fray, while Mark stepped away just in time to not get wet himself. With narrowed eyes he watched as Jack pulled the pages of the magazine he had “borrowed” from the lab and folded one of them into a boat, right afterwards putting it on the surface.

Before he could actually let it go however Mark spoke up, his face grim: “Are you really going to waste time with this as well? We are not here to play games, Jack, this is not a vacation.”

Nina and Right Brain looked up at Mark, who hovered over them, both of them silent as he ranted.

“We came here for a specific reason and even though I told you I am okay with the fact on spending our time like you want, I want to remind you that we have a bigger goal to reach. So it would be kindly appreciated if you took things seriously. Because apparently, you rather play games then find a solution to our problem.”

Jack glanced away as Mark continued with berating him and Nina regarded them with a thoughtful expression. Then she grinned as she leant forwards, hands cupped around her mouth as she waved the green head closer.

Whispering into his ear she had a plan on cooling Mark off and Jack grinned impishly, nodding.

“Aww. Come on, Mark!” Nina then intervened, “I thought you were here to visit Bo! Even if you have things planned, you should have fun!”

“I appreciate the thought of you wanting us to enjoy ourselves, but the predicament we have is far bigger than you imagine,” Mark contradicted, while both in the water stepped closer, Nina to one side, Jack to the other, “And I do believe there are better ways to handle those then with ignoring them.”

“Taking a break does you good though!” Nina giggles, stretching her arms above her out while Jack did the same into Mark’s direction.

“I disagree with that statement, for we are on breaks constantly and more productivity would be of good use.”

Mark had his arms still crossed as he leant over Nina, both of them inching into an argument while Jack got closer and closer, tongue sticking out at the side of his mouth, face concentrated. Soon enough he had clamped both of his hands around Mark’s shoes, hoping that he would not notice too soon, but being rewarded as Mark was closing his eyes, slight defiantness coming to his voice.

“I am not implying that playing around is not a feature we humans need to aquire for survival, I am just stating the fact that this whole predicament is a danger to our survival, which in itself is not entirely true, as it doesn’t entirely involve us, but another-…”

And there a shocked noise left him as he felt his balance being thrown off.

The splash of water and the gurgled noise left Nina breathless while Jack held his stomach as tears of laughter sprung to their eyes. They both burst out in giggles, holding their mouths to try to stifle them, failing miserably. Nina was the first to notice that Mark was standing again and had to puff her cheeks to not let out more noise. He was dripping wet, glasses crooked and bright red hair falling into his eyes, as a whole looking like he was about to kill somebody.

Mainly Jack.

Soon enough a hiss left him and he stared murderously at the green head, who there while sported a worried look on his grinning face. The roar that escaped the other made him turn and dash deeper into the lake as Mark followed him with outstretched arms, teeth barred in furry.

“COME BACK HERE!”

“Nope!!”

Jack was laughing heartily as he zig zagged around the water, Mark close on his heels, while Nina was back on the shore grass, rolling on her back, gasping for breath. She could not stop even after Jack had scrambled his way out of the lake, trying to escape as he knocked into a tree and proceeded to scurry up the canopy. Left Brain on the other hand was getting exhausted and as he pulled himself up, he had lost all interest in snapping the others neck, deciding that sitting down was a better idea.

“Sorry…” smirked Nina then, still on her back, trying to not show that she was not sorry at all, “You look like a drowned cat.”

“I presume so.”

“You’re not angry?”

Mark shook his head at the slightly surprised girl, as he tried to wring his hair to get it dry again: “I do not agree with the kind of humour you have used on me but I do understand that I was over-reacting.”

Jack was still in the tree, but he could hear Mark’s statement, a warm smile spreading as he poked his head out: “At least you understand humour.”

“That I do.”

Nina laid back, considering the words, before she mumbled: “You guys like comedy?”

“Yes.”

Both brain halves stared at each other, Jack rising his eyebrows in surprise while Mark tilted his head.

“Bo did too.”

Now both glanced at Nina, who sat herself up, hair falling into her face as she brushed it away.

Silence hung for a few moments, before she continued.

“When you said you were Bo’s cousins I had hoped he would come here, too. At first I wanted to ask him for help, but he’s nowhere in the village, didn’t matter where I looked. I never asked you guys either so you do know where he is, right?”

Jack at the tone of her voice slowly made his way back down and took a seat beside his other half, while Mark was blinking a bit, deciphering the worry in her words. As she turned to them she took Mark’s arm again, dark blue eyes blinking up at him. He had to take a breath before he could answer her.

“You have to know, we wanted to visit him,” Mark started, Jack glancing up at him and listening intently on what excuse he would make, “But he had to leave for Vinestone unexpectedly. He’s meeting with a doctor there.”

“Doctor?”

“Indeed.”

Nina paused, seemingly thinking hard, before she mumbled: “Because he’s unhappy all the time?”

Mark became silent at her insightful, truthful comment, while Jack blinked.

“Yes,” the red head then proceeded carefully, “You can put it that way. He… felt conflicted in many ways and went to see someone for help.”

“I hope he feels better soon,” Nina said, obviously saddened by the information, “He always helps us out when he catches us off-guard, never tells us to stop what we are doing or is forbidding us things. Only if it’s getting out of hand or dangerous I guess. He even took the blame that one time when we tried to get one of the horses on one of the farms around here to jump over a fence, hurrying off. He had to go look for it all by himself.”

Right Brain remembered too well how Bo had tried to lead it back with a carrot and somehow making it back to the farm, only to get caught and having to excuse himself for feeding it, the animal being a race horse with a strict diet.

Gosh, that was awkward.

“I like him, my mom tells me often how he’s done things like we do all the time when he was a child.” Nina moved closer as she whispered, “People say he was a bigger troublemaker than we all kids combined, isn’t that cool? Like climbing over roofs and chimneys and then sliding down rain pipes! Or suddenly breaking into a song in the middle of the day and then moving others to do so, too.”

Mark slumped his shoulders, the words not a compliment.

But Nina was not finished, as she hung her head: “I don’t know why he doesn’t anymore. Sometimes I talk with him and he goes all sad for a reason or another when I mention it, but he never says why, you know? Like… Like it hurts him?”

Jack opened his mouth to say something, but it died in his throat instead. Mark was not faring better, as he clamped it shut.

“Last week was weird, too, he was so deep in thought, turning all frowny faced, as if he’s bitten into a lemon, you know what I mean? The older children told me he had been a big goofball, always made jokes and was silly. Bo was always fun, and he still is fun, but he doesn’t feel alright,” she continued, her voice wavering suddenly, looking up again, “I wish he were here.”

That struck a nerve.

Mark was still captured by Nina’s hand, overcome with speechlessness. The fact that Bo’s inner troubles had leaked so plainly out, for children to see, was indeed a testimony to their failures, to his failures. No word came over his lips and instead he tried to find the instances she had mentioned, trying to filter through what Bo had been thinking, what they had been thinking, trying to escape the tears that suddenly welled up in the girls eyes. There while Jack reacted almost immediately, Nina in front of him incredibly melancholic by the fact that Bo was not around and that fact making him sick to his stomach. Presumably she was also disappointed that he would not see the surprise or the festival.

So he scooted closer: “I’m sure he’s right now fixing exactly that. He’ll be back soon, no worries. And until he’s back, we’re here, taking care of everything.”

“Promise?”

Jack laughed heartily as he nodded: “Promise!”

Mark did not say anything but Nina seemed to be satisfied by Jack’s certainty, her face lightening up before she squeezed Mark’s hand. Then they heard a sudden rush of feet and her smile went even wider as she explained.

“The reinforcements are here!”


	11. The Fight

Hanging up the lights was so much more trouble than either brain half could have imagined.

The children were of course all ecstatic, lanterns stacked in their arms, confident and laughing arrogantly for the fact that they somehow had managed to sneak by everybody, a fact Mark was still figuring out on how they did it. Some of them were climbing up the trees, others were arranging the candles, and others rearranged them around, nobody knowing what they were doing. Some of them even were running around with lighters, joking around that they would set the forest ablaze to set up the biggest light ever seen.

Mark was not amused.

After a shout from Nina, everybody had settled enough so Mark could plan out what they were trying to achieve. They were lucky that the forest was so incredibly thick or the noise would have been heard for miles as Mark started forming groups. Setting the lanterns was just a work of position and precision and that was what he was good at. Jack loved to help the kids as well and he climbed up the highest branches to hang everything up, while Mark kept a look out on everybody.

Carefully they illuminated some, to make sure the light would be enough and Right Brain immediately loved the sight.

“Alright!” he hollered, “We will light this place up like nobody had ever seen it light up!”

“It has never been lit before.”

“Even better! No competition!”

“If you break out into a song I will throw you the street.”

But the green head just grinned as the children got infected by his enthusiasm, working more chaotic and cheerful than beforehand. Instances of “Not here”, “This is too high”, “Get away from the river” and many more were littered throughout the operation and Mark was slowly losing more and more patience while Right Brain was relishing the excitement around him. Some children started to get distracted as well and started playing catch, others were humming their own songs as they stood by and held the materials.

It took a while, but finally the children were satisfied with their work.

“Everybody!” Nina then announced, “We meet again in 72 hours! Right here!”

“… In 3 days?”

“Yeah, in 3 days, silly.”

And with that the children dispersed just as fast as they had come. Mark watched with some fascination on how fast the group retreated away from the forest, getting lost in the light of the sunset and he noted that they really could be stealthy if they wanted to. Interesting, maybe it was their height that gave them the advantage? Nina was the last to leave, making sure to thank them once more for the help and wringing the promise out of them that they had to come to set the lights on the festival day. As they did, she left hastily, probably to not get caught by her mother wandering around at that late hour.

Jack on the other hand was filled with pride as he looked around, hands on his hips before he lifted them in a wide gesture: “This looks amazing, doesn’t it?”

“It does look impressive for a group of prepubescents, I have to say.”

“Right? Now we can look around the village some more! Or explore the rest of the forest!”

Mark tried to keep a sigh in: “Why?”

“Oh! Just thought it could be nice! Bo hasn’t taken a walk in a long while, so we could catch up!”

“Or let’s not,” the red head replied, “The forest is dark and dense, I do not see the appeal of wandering through muddy undergrowth. And we always have to go off from the worst, we could get lost at this dark hour, you know of the dangers lurking here.”

“There is a word for people like ye,” Jack mumbled however, lost in thought, “Ya know? The ones that always go “this is the end of the world if we don’t do this thing” and are always really cold about it.”

“Are you thinking of pessimists?”

“Yes! And ye’re a pessimist. Ye’re always so…” He pondered, “What’s the word?”

“Pessimistic?”

“Exactly!”

“That is why they are called pessimists, Jack.” Then he shook his head, trying to clear it. “We did say we would meet Wade after helping the children. It is time to go after that statement and fulfil it.”

“But I’m in charge!” Jack declared once more with smugness in his voice, “So we do what I say! And I say he can wait some bit longer!”

“Jack, this is no joking matter. We need Wade’s help right now, and we cannot visit him at midnight. He is probably waiting.”

Right Brain seemed to consider the words but then shook his head, frowning: “It has time tomorrow.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“It has time tomorrow.” Jack crossed his arms firmly. “We will visit him tomorrow. He was exhausted and knowin’ him he forgot about the meet up anyway. We should let him rest.”

Mark shook his head as he started to glare: “I thought we were in the clear that Robert’s well-being is our top priority.”

“And so is everybody else’s. Left Brain, think about it. He was almost trippin’ over his shoes, he doesn’t need us barging in on him.”

“How many, goddamn times do I need to tell you I am Mark?”

Jack flinched, his shoulders going up to his ears as he frowned harder, mouth in a thin line.

“You ARE Left Brain. It’s yer name.”

“It is my function, Jack, nothing else,” Mark fumed, “The name “Left Brain” does not exist.”

“I should have come up with a better name than Mark then. It’s too nice of a name for ye. Ye’re never nice, always complainin’.”

“That is because I actually work and have something to complain about while you wander off in your own world. And now you suddenly want to be responsible for him, it is laughable. You never did anything useful for Robert.”

Jack’s heart beat faster at these words, as he curled his arms around his chest, breath suddenly knocked out of him.

“That’s not true! I was helpin’ him!”

“With what?” Mark spit, “Tell me, how were you ever of help? Whenever something went wrong you over-reacted, getting emotional. Whenever he had a moment to himself to work, you jumped in and distracted him. Whatever he does, you somehow manage to put a stone in his way, making him worry about everything else. Even now, now where we should put Robert over everybody else, you act like nothing is wrong while everything is, ignoring every consequence. You call that helpful?”

Jack kept quiet at that, not knowing how to respond as Mark let out a huff.

“Sometimes I wonder if you are even aware of your actions. If it were not for me, I do not want to imagine what damage you could have caused him over the years with your recklessness. It is a miracle the computer still considers you a part of him.”

Mark shook his head in disdain.

“Enough of this, you somehow always manage to do that, losing time. We end this here, time to find Wade.”

But as he was trying to leave for the entrance, with his mind already on the road, he could pick up Jack mumbling something under his breath and he stopped, clenching his fists. For a moment he could feel something hot bubbling in his stomach, before he turned his head, glaring.

“What did you say?”

“I am a part of Bo,” he answered, “But you never listen to me anymore.”

That made Mark furrow his eyebrows as he snarled out a: “What?”

“I am a part of Bo,” Jack repeated, now for the third time, his legs feeling weak but stepping closer as he tried to put his thoughts into words, trying to say them out loud, “But, you only always drag me around, you never ask me if I’m alright with your decisions.”

“That is because I am in charge.”

“But you shouldn’t be always in charge.”

“What are you implying?”

“I…”

Jack stuttered to a halt, not knowing what the thought rampaging in his mind was, not being able to form it completely.

But he tried.

“I should be in charge, even if ya think it’s a waste of time. I should be able to do things without ya buttin’ in all the time, even if ye think it’s useless. I should have a say in what he wants and needs and how to get those things. It’s not fair that I listen and give you the wheel for some time and you don’t. Ever. It… doesn’t do him good to always work so hard.”

“Of all the times you could have chosen, you are trying to lecture me on what does Bo good and what does not now? Do you actually think this is a game? He is gone, he is in real, mortal danger and I am trying to fix things. You on the other hand?”

“But what ye are doin’ is not right either. You don’t take the time to appreciate anything, the… the opportunity to… I just believe that…-“

And here Mark threw his hands in the air as he scoffed, while Jack flinched harshly.

“You and your beliefs! What belief? That he should waste his time away? That, if he does not work, everything will turn out alright? That we will magically come back together just because? Please, listen to yourself and how lunatic you sound! You clearly do not know what you are saying.”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Jack whispered, “You’re not listening.”

“Then explain! What do you think, as his right brain side, should we do that brings him back? How do we get him back? What is the goal of all this? What do you think is going to happen to him if we do not take this seriously?”

“I… I don’t know.”

The angered noise the other made in that moment made Jack’s back prickle, snapping his mouth shut. The sudden suffocating familiarity of the situation was numbing him and he glanced down so he could escape the stare. But that only made room for Mark to step in again, anger flaring up, his arms flying to the side.

“You know what?! I had enough of you! You aren’t helping!” He forced the “helping” out with barred teeth. “I worked so hard to give him a steady life, worked so hard to give him the necessary tools to survive, to give him the things he cares about, while you?! You act like a child!”

While Jack stepped back, his eyes closed, Mark was advancing on him, the anger radiating. The red head had to curl his hands before he pressed them to his chest so he would not punch the tree beside him, disbelief lacing his voice, as he started to shout once more.

“Don’t you get it?! Because you are doing everything BUT getting him back, Bo could DIE!” He had to take a breath as he screamed, “Because of YOU and your stupid BELIEFS!”

“THEY ARE NOT MINE!”

Letting his shoulders fall, Jack’s arms tensed beside his body, shaking and breathing harder than ever before. His eyes were burning, he could feel the tears gather. Everything was burning, his skin, from the toes to his fingertips, his stomach, his chest, boiling. His throat felt raw after finally having screamed back at his other half, gasping for breath as he threw his one hand to the side.

“THEY ARE BO’S! THEY ARE OURS!”

And now he stomped with his foot, his body vibrating from the force, every fibre of his being rigid.

“BUT YOU NEVER! FOKEN! LISTEN!”

Then his hand pressed against his heart as it thudded painfully, tears now finally rolling down as he sniffed, realizing that he was shaking like a feeble leaf but not wanting to give up just yet.

“I miss him as much as you do, okay?! I want him back, too! AND I’M TRYING! I’m TRYING to FIX THINGS! I DON’T KNOW HOW WE SHOULD GET HIM BACK, BUT DON’T SAY I’M NOT TRYING! YOU THINK YOU KNOW EVERYTHING, BUT YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING AT ALL! JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE SMARTER DOESN’T MEAN YOU CAN IGNORE ME ALL THE TIME! JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE LOGICAL DOESN’T MEAN YOU KNOW BETTER, YOU DON’T KNOW HOW HE FEELS!”

His head pounded as he shot his arms out, only then for his voice to leave him, his sentence weak and scratchy.

“IT’S NOT… NOT JUST My fault we can’t merge…”

Then silence.

Thick silence filled the aftermath.

Jack was trying desperately to calm down, his breathing harsh and the taste of iron coming up his throat. One hand was wandering over his mouth to will the next words out, to force them back into the open, eyes prickling. But somehow he could not make them appear, his frustration growing as the silence persisted, beating him down, suffocating him.

And Mark, who had listened with his teeth barred, lost all of his restraint as he moved forward, grabbing Jack by both of his wrists and curling his fingers around them so the other had no chance to flee.

There he leant forward, screaming once more as the other tried to wiggle free.

“NOT YOUR FAULT?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” his face twisted in fury, “IF IT WEREN’T FOR YOU NOTHING OF ALL THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!”

Jack knew that was true.

It was all his fault, he had failed Bo.

But he had just wanted to help, and he wanted to be back in control. Just for once he had wanted to have a say in things again.

To prove himself again.

As Wade had told Bo about the doctor, the one side had told him to leave it alone, that it was a waste of time, that he could control this by himself. But the other was louder, more hopeful, that maybe this was a chance to actually change something.

Anything.

Even confronted with the computer the voice, Jack’s voice, had stood its ground, needing something to hold on to. Right Brain knew he had done this to Bo, and he was the one that had pushed him that far, no matter what Left Brain had thrown at him.

But Mark was livid, still not finished as he pulled the other closer, the silence unbearable.

“WHAT?!?” he demanded, “NOTHING TO SAY NOW THAT I’M LISTENING?!? COME ON! TELL ME!! HOW IS IT MY FAULT??!” Mark shook the other, as if that would rattle the answer out of him, “HOW COULD IT COME THIS FAR??”

Jack curled into himself as he tried to breathe, but he could not escape.

“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING GOING THERE WOULD ACCOMPLISH??! WE WENT THERE BECAUSE YOU COULDN’T DO YOUR FUCKING JOB! AND YOU BLAME ME?!? YOU BLAME ME FOR HOW HE’S FEELING???”

Jack was frozen in place as silent sobs escaped him, eyes squeezing shut as he stopped fighting off the stronger brain half.

He had wanted to do his job, he had wanted to help Bo, but he and Mark did not have the same definition of it anymore.

Maybe they never had.

And Jack had wanted to be helpful, had tried to explain himself again and again. And even then, when Mark’s hold got slack and he managed to take hand, he somehow always messed up.

He had been trying so hard.

“YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU FAILED HIM, YOU FAILED HIM WITH HIS FEELINGS. YOU DID THIS TO HIM BECAUSE YOU FAILED, LIKE YOU ALWAYS DO.”

The only thing he could do was bite his lips as he tried to stay quiet, to keep himself composed, to not show even more weakness then he already had, as the other pressed harder against his arms. The rush of angered heat turned into freezing cold water, a hollow pit forming in Jack’s stomach as he trembled, disappointment churning in his gut.

“YOU DID THIS TO HIM AND IF HE WEREN’T DEAD? HE WOULD FUCKING HATE YOU.”

Jack was sobbing, freely and unrestrained as he could feel the pools of water cascading down and dripping onto the ground. When he looked up the only thing he saw was a blur of red and black, his heart clenching.

He had just wanted to have a say in things again.

He had just wanted to be a part of Bo again.

But he had not been strong enough.

Not good enough.

Then he whimpered and Mark had to strain his ears to make out the words, his own breath and blood rushing in his ears.

“…I didn’t know what to do anymore…”

The green head mumbled, chocking, staggering, the anger eradicated from his voice as he fell into a whisper.

“Half of his problems were supposed to be mine.”

Mark stopped immediately at the tone of the voice, his eyebrows rising in astonishment while Jack was starting to become louder, his voice becoming steady. Something stirred in Mark at the way the other raised his voice, not screeching or yelling, but a force behind it he could not define. As he slowly eased his grip, staring at the other with a frown, Jack lifted his head higher.

“You never took me seriously, never let me do what I wanted, needed to do…” Jack sniffed, “I couldn’t do it alone. I needed help.”

Something squirmed in Mark, a feeling, a pain he could not place and he held his breath while Jack let his head fall again, trembling harder.

“But I didn’t want this. I just…. Just wanted to make Bo happy…”

Happy.

“BECAUSE HE ISN’T!”

And now Mark was the one staggering back, as Jack freed himself from the loose hold. Using his hands to push the other away from him with all the strength he could muster, he found the strength in him to raise his voice once more.

“BUT I SURE HOPE YOU ARE, YOU PRICK!!!”

With that Jack ran towards the village, not daring looking back as he pushed his way through the vegetation, stumbling but somehow managing to get away. He was still trembling, realizing what he had just said and for a moment he felt like crumbling to the floor.

All he had wanted was to have a say in things.

He had just wanted Bo to be happy again.

“JACK! COME BACK HERE!!” Mark screamed after the other, something akin to worry coating them, his hands suddenly shaking as he stood there, rooted to his place.

His arms crossed in front of his chest as he looked to the side, the words replaying and knowing what the other had said being the truth. He was the one to lead Bo in most decisions.

All of the decisions.

He scoffed, trying to will the thought away, but the words were still running around in his mind and he hated to admit that they actually moved him. The fact that Jack had been over-powered by his emotions was not a surprise, but for him to go against his orders was. To stand his ground and argue, to be so thick-skulled, it was a known but also entirely new occurence. It was usual for the green head to give in at some point, to listen to his other half. Naturally, Left Brain’s logic was impenetrable, a standing stone that had kept them alive for years.

But now.

Now Right Brain was escaping into the night, the agreement to not wander off thrown into the wind.

He could not crumble now and question the what if’s, it was dangerous to let him be unsupervised.

Who knew what could happen to him all on his own in that state?

He needed to find him, now.

And then he realized he had no inkling on where the other would run off to in the first place.

Mark thought hard as he followed the direction the other had taken, walking through the hole in the bush, the river beside him gently flowing, before he crossed the park. He looked up at the trees, hoping that Jack had perched himself onto one of them, but nothing but yellow, brown and red leaves, that have turned grey in the night. Even in Dusk-Street no hint on the green head and Mark sighed. No sign of him, just people walking by and they did not see him either as he asked around. Soon the sun dipped completely behind the city and the only conclusion Mark could come up with was that he had went home.

Hopefully he went home.

Left Brain was about to walk there, wondering if he should tell Wade the predicament he found himself in, hoping maybe Right Brain had the same idea, but for some reason or another, he saw something glint in the corner of his eye. It was already dark, the sun completely gone, so the street lights turned on one after the other, flickering dangerously. Orange filled his vision and because of it he approached the small bench that was located under it. He had to keep a noise of confusion in, leaning down as he picked the object up, holding it into the light of the lamp, eyebrows rising.

Nina’s hairclip.

Dark blue with a small bow attached to it.

But how had it gotten here?

Then a thought wormed into his mind and he blinked, looking up, and overlooking the area. Behind the bench he could see twigs bend and cracked, the view of the train station across the grassy field greeting him behind it. And further down the self-made, destroyed path lay a familiar piece of magazine paper.

Jack went through here, he was sure.

And looking down at the hair clip he wanted to smack his head.

Of course he knew where the hairclip had been, he had known it the whole time, but he had forgotten about it. Bo had forgotten about it. The day before Bo had gone to the computer he and Nina had been joking around, the girl talking about what she had done with her friends that day and what they had planned to do the next week. When she had run off, her hair clip had fallen off in her euphoria of preparing everything for autumn and Bo had good-naturally picked it up.

And now Jack had let it fall out of his trouser pockets, because Mark was sure it had been in the same part of it as the magazines that Jack had picked up and was now certainly folding in his distress.

At least that mystery was solved and he clamped his fingers around the bow.

Nina would be happy to hear that he had found it.

Now he just needed to locate Right Brain.


	12. A Talk With The Sun

Right Brain staggered his way up the stairs of the train station, tearing open the door of the indoor waiting area with the thought of not wanting to be found screeching in his mind.

His head whipped back and forth, locating the second pair of stairs that would lead him to the attic and he strode over hastily. Reaching the top floor, he kicked the one window away and forced his body through the new entrance, clawing at the tiles of the roof. Seating himself behind the chimney, pressing his back against the brick wall, he let out a puff of air that he had been holding for what felt like an eternity. The whole time he had been fidgeting with the magazine, his hands ripping the paper sheets apart, and with every tear he felt a tiny bit better. Before he really acknowledged it, there were only small, colourful confetti pieces in his lap left.

He still felt like crying but at least his face was not running like an open faucet anymore.

Upset he looked around, noting that the lamps have turned on. The sky was ink black, the trees were sallow and the lights were golden. Most houses had lights on and people were still walking around the centre, Jack enjoying the view for the most part. Bo had liked to sit up here when he had been a child, it had made him tall and overlook everything that he called his home. As miserable as Jack felt, he did feel better about the fact that at least the view up here had not changed a bit.

His eyes shifted to his lap, studying the squares that were scattered all over his legs.

With a slight sigh he carded with his hands through the pile, crunching it up, to hear it rustle, to give his hands something to do. His fingers crumbled and then smoothed it out, a cycle that he could have done forever, his mind wandering off. With a shiver he was brought back to the present, noticing the air shift around him, picking loose squares up and those floating away. The soft breeze carried them off, Jack losing sight of them in the darkness, numbly watching.

Staring at the tattered paper pieces settled around him he picked one up, studying it with an empty face.

His heart clenched.

Then he threw all of the pieces in a swoop down, the flock flying away as he leant back, breathing hard as he noticed that he was still twitching with his fingers, grasping at nothing. Rummaging in his pockets he had the sliver of hope to find more to tear apart, but nothing and he banged his head against the brick, letting out a sigh.

“That’s not really environmentally friendly.”

Jack snapped his eyes open once more, the voice making him shudder in panic. He had assumed that nobody would find him here, had thought he would be save for a few hours, so he let out a shriek as he felt the tiles shift, somebody coming closer. Head jerking upwards, twisting his body so he could peek behind the chimney he was hiding behind he realised that the voice belonged to Samantha, who was busying herself with balancing her weight, hands outstretched on either side. For a moment Right Brain observed her with wide eyes as she stuck her tongue out, eyes trained on the burned clay slates, trying to carefully tip toe over.

“Huh?” the green head just replied dumbly.

“The paper.” She pointed down as they saw the pieces in the grass move. “Next time a trashcan might do.”

Jack blinked as he watched her with wide eyes, her own still trained on her feet so she would not accidentally slip. Mesmerized he stared how she delicately set on foot after the other, tapping softly every single time with her heel to make sure the tile would hold, her dress swaying from side to side. Wondering how her hair was absorbing the lights of the city, he could swear that the twilight was not the one of a sunset but one of sun rise, the world suddenly brighter.

Before he realized what he was doing he noticed her grinning at him.

Moving into his earlier position, pressing his back against the chimney, he gave her a sideway glance, observing as she settled down beside him, knees tucked to her chest, lifting an eyebrow. Her smile was betraying the meaning behind her words she had uttered earlier, and a slight weight lifted off his chest, glad she was not actually that concerned about the way he had thrown off the magazine.

As she made herself comfortable, he glanced swiftly to the edge of the roof, mumbling: “Yeah. Should have kept hold of those.” He shifted, glancing back. “What are ye doin’ here?”

Samantha chuckled, as she pointed back to the window the two of them had crawled out of: “I work here sometimes, somebody has to keep track of the tracks, pun intended.” She grinned. “The noise you made could have stirred a sleeping mountain, so I wanted to see what you’re up to up here.”

The fact that she had made another pun, made him look away shyly, as he fiddled with his fingers, focusing his eyes on the village.

“Ya work in a lot of places?” He then tried to start a conversation, fingers tapping on his knees, “You mentioned it before.”

She nodded, before she put her hand to her chin in a thoughtful gesture: “Oh, well. I kind of can’t settle down. I always feel like moving. Having just one job and settling for hours to concentrate on it would make me livid.”

“Oh?”

“Absolutely. I admire people that can just sit down and do things for hours, no matter what topic. But I can’t. For example I need to write a paper, then need to walk and make errands and afterwards watch trains, I wouldn’t be able to do one of the things all day. And those three things don’t stay the same either.”

Jack eased his shoulders, thankful for the situation, not having to roam in his own mind for too long alone: “So that is why you’re here. It was coincidence.”

“A lucky coincidence!”

His cheeks were dusted pink in an instant and he moved his head further to the side, while she chuckled. A stretch of silence engulfed them and soon enough his eyes wandered to watch his surroundings once more, breathing silently out. Staring at the forest that stretched to right side, the fog there settling into a white blanket, he reminded himself of his predicament, having left his other half there in the dust.

“Sorry for distracting ya, I didn’t mean to,” he decided on replying, his voice heavy, “I just… needed a place to be for a while.”

“I don’t mind!” she hastily explained, hands waving in a stopping motion, making him shrink back, “It sounded pretty necessary going by the kick you gave the poor window. Sounded like china dishes exploding.”

Jack lifted an eyebrow.

“I did stupid things as a child.”

That made him giggle in return and he nodded: “Yeah, same here.”

A pause lingered.

“By the way, I’m glad you found Wade. I talked to him this morning.”

“We did,” Jack nodded, “He uh… was happy to see us? At least now he is. I think he would have rather seen Bo, but… yeah.”

“Bo, huh?” she repeated as she stared at the people on the square, who were starting to leave for home, her face blank.

Jack narrowed his eyes a bit at the tone of her voice, confusion rattling the clogs in his brain, carefully moving his neck to look at her better. For a moment he was speechless again, his heart hammering at the sight of the weak lamp shimmer reflecting of her stone grey eyes and trying to stop it as he pressed his hand over it. Soon enough he lost his whole train of thought as she brushed a hair strand behind her ear.

“Didn’t see him either the last few days. Usually he’s on time with everything nowadays, unless he’s with the children. But they were looking for him, too.”

Jack tilted his head, as he asked deeply interested: “Ya still keep track of him?”

She laughed: “Take it as a hobby, me working everywhere but never staying for long has its advantage, gives me time to take in the world. What I certainly know about him is what was in the past. Comedy suited him, he showed off in class, you know?”

“Class.” Kindergarten class as well as College class his thoughts screamed, “What do ye remember from class?”

“I have to say a lot. We went together to school in the mornings all the time. Wade, Bo and I were unseparable on the playground, I cried a lot when I moved. Back then Bo did have a reputation.” She flicked with her hand, as she was presenting a poster behind her. “He loved to prank people, but not with buckets of water over the head or dim-witted stuff like that. He was meticulous, he always made sure that at the end of the day everybody was laughing and had a good time.”

“Why would you even try to make someone’s day miserable?” Jack interrupted, honestly flabbergasted, “Of course he would make sure the jokes were fun, and not just to him.”

Samantha smiled with an amused glint in her eyes and Jack snapped his mouth shut.

“That is why nobody ever told him to stop, he was always good-natured, he never meant ill.” Then she let the smile falter into a saddened one. “Not in the last few years though. He seemed bothered. Didn’t tell as many jokes, wasn’t really into them anymore.”

Right Brain nodded first, before he let his shoulders fall: “He started to have more important things on his mind, so the other things fell away.”

Samantha pursed her lips for a second, as if she was about to make a comment, but then laid down, her hands crossing behind the back of her head as she closed her eyes. Jack, now less intimidated, watched her as she stretched, closing his eyes as well afterwards. He listened for a moment to the world, the wind howling softly, the leaves moving, the distant noise of machines humming. He tried to discern between the different variations, his throat unwillingly letting out noise itself whenever he was sure he had identified a sound in the orchestra.

“Have an example?”

Jack ducked his head, before he slid one eye open: “Why?”

“Just curious. Why mention more important things, if there wasn’t a concrete example?”

“Because I have no brain to mouth filter.”

He slapped his hand over his lips right after while Samantha needed a moment to process. Jack was sure he heard a grasshopper creek before a hearty giggle overwhelmed Samantha, who was then watching him blubber in embarrassment. Before he could calm himself down she sat up and clapped his back, snickering the whole time as he bit his tongue.

“That’s fine!” she petted him again, hand on his shoulder, “No harm in that!” Then she nodded to the side, “I wish people were always that honest with themselves.”

“Really?”

“Sure! I speak from experience! It’s easy lying to oneself.”

Jack blinked while her eyes showed nothing but earnest, again that cheeky glint appearing he had no way of placing. For a moment he was fighting for words and soon enough he felt the dread from before, the fear of losing his words to the frantic noise in his head. He pressed his one hand to his eyes, shakily sighing, trying to sort through what he actually wanted to say, but they jumbled into a chaotic mess.

Suddenly he felt like he were back, mulling the conversation over with Mark.

The way the other had reacted, replaying it again and again, melted his brain into a puddle. He had not been sure what he should have done in that moment, he still was not. The other hated him at this point, utterly and fully, he had never been fond of him. Bo being split into them was his fault, so Mark had every single right to act the way he did.

The hand on his shoulder brought him back to the present as Samantha came back into focus, encouragingly squeezing his shoulder: “Whatever. How about you tell me why you almost broke the window?”

Right Brain took a breath, before he let it out, shrugging: “It’s just… Mark. We had kind of a fight and he hates me now.”

“I’m sure that’s not true!” she immediately butted in, disagreeing and shaking her head, “Hate is such a strong word. He’s probably just upset,” she lifted an eyebrow, “What was the fight about?”

Jack shut his mouth as he averted his gaze for the umpteenth time, not really wanting to lie after her having praised him or try to explain it fully. It was nothing she needed to be bothered by so he responded: “It’s personal stuff. I…” He waved with his hands in front of him, as if trying to pick a solution out from the air in front of him. “I just can’t find anything we both like doing. He thinks everything is always a waste of time and he’s never satisfied with anything.”

“It’s that bad?”

“Yes!” Jack almost stood up in his frustration, waving with his hands, “Nothing I say comes through! He goes on and on and on and ON but ignores me, no matter what I got to say! It’s just so, so…” He sighed, “That’s just not fair.”

Settling down, he pressed his hands against his face, groaning into them. It was mostly exhausting to always fight the other, he was getting tired of it. It was not too much to ask for some respect, for a willing ear, was it?

Was it?

Samantha there while thought for a bit, her fingers tapping on her chin. Jack felt a bit uncomfortable with the way she was staring at him, as if she was trying to deduce the next step, before he felt the hand on his shoulder move back to her.

Then she offered a bland: “Maybe you two just need some distance?”

At his look she decided to explain.

“Yes! Like… as far as I saw you two stick like glue to each other. N-not saying that everybody talks about you two, but they kind of do.”

She stopped shortly, as if thinking through her next words with carefulness, while playing absentmindedly with the pendant of her necklace. Jack noticed it being a blue stone, a thumb thick, the size of a coin, shaped like a donut. Instead of a hole however there was another, smaller stone placed in it, radiating pink. It was held together by two strings and for a moment he wondered if she always had carried that necklace with her.

It was really pretty, he thought.

“You two are a weird pair, and you’re all new, so it was a matter of time before people talk,” she then continued, “And they talk about how you two go everywhere together, arguing. Maybe it helps to do the stuff each of you likes on your own and get on with it. As said… get some distance.”

Distance.

It sounded pretty convincing.

More distance to do what they wanted, to figure out what they wanted, how they wanted it.

Distance.

Samantha took the silence and his unmoving, glassy eyes as an answer, as she added: “Well. Just my two cents here, not sure if they’re worth that much in your case really.”

But Jack expression changed rapidly into a smile, his hands shooting forwards as he took her shoulders, shaking her a bit: “No, I think that’s it! That’s actually it! I think that’s a brilliant idea, Sammy!”

“Just come again if you need some more advice, I do have some tricks up my sleeves!” she smiled at his enthusiasm, nodding curtly before she lifted herself from the tiles, offering a hand to help him stand up, “Even if they’re short.”

She pointed with her free hand to her shirt while Right Brain blushed madly, realizing he was still holding it, letting hesitantly go, before pushing it into his trouser pockets. She did not seem to mind however and instead tilted her head as she regarded him closer, frowning. He blinked, as she finally snapped with her fingers, multiple times in a row, before pointing at him.

“Right, right, I forgot to ask! I don’t even know your name!” She slapped her hand over her eyes, letting out a giggle, “So sorry about that! You called the red head Mark?”

Right Brain sunk his head into his shoulders as he replied softly grinning: “Y-yeah he is and I’m R…” He stuttered, “I’m Jack Burnham.”

Just afterwards he was aware of what he had said and he stood awkwardly there as she lifted her hand to her mouth, a chuckle leaving her.

“Oh, so you’re saying you are actually related to Bo!” She laughed harder, seemingly amused by the information. “Wade told me a bit more about you three, but I didn’t really register all of it! I have to say, the three of you look nothing alike!”

“Mark says it’s the genes.”

“Of course, of course,” she huffed out breathlessly, shaking her head, before she startled suddenly, looking shocked. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to sound rude or anything!”

“No, no. It’s fine, I should have said something, it’s alright,” Jack grinned a bit helplessly, as he massaged his neck, staring at her bright face, “I didn’t really think it would matter… I guess I should have introduced me properly or something before I started talking about my stuff!”

“As you mentioned before, right? You talk before you think!” Another round of giggles. “Well, at least I won’t forget about your name, Jack. I really didn’t mean to laugh, though. I just… didn’t know he had… cousins, was it?”

“Right.”

“Cousins, gotta keep that in mind,” she mumbled softly, before she stood straight again, “Well! If I do get your name wrong again, correct me!”

“Ah well, it doesn’t matter that much if you get it wrong or right, ya know? It’s not that important anyway.”

That made her start slightly, cringing at his words, roaming his saddened face with a calculating stare. Jack felt new embarrassment firing up in his chest, his own mouth having betrayed him once again as he glanced down to his feet. It did not help that she was a bit taller than him, looking down and his back prickling with fear.

But she was not Mark, so before Jack could excuse himself, to escape her sight, she smiled broadly.

“So I presume you’re visiting Bo then?”

Jack shrugged before he lifted his hand, jittering it from side to side, as if to say “kinda” followed by: “Bo is actually gone right now to take care of some business, so we’re more like visiting Pappelcreek really. We actually… don’t really know what we are doing.”

“There is always the festival, it’s a great time of year to wander around and go sight-see. I am sure you will find something to do while you wait up on Bo to come back.”

“Oh, of course, no question about it! I’m… just worried about meeting up with Mark.”

“He won’t bite your head off, he’s surely worrying about you just as much as you are worrying about him,” she reassured softly, afterwards staring up to the sky, “It’s gotten really dark now, I hadn’t planned on staying so long.”

Jack shuffled a bit with his feet: “Yeah, sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, it was really nice meeting you properly, but it’s time to get home for me.” Already a step towards the window, she turned her head, adding, “I’m not going to chase you away, but don’t trip on your way out, alright?”

And with that she left, leaving Jack with his hands still in his pockets, heart beating. Following her with his eyes she disappeared behind the edge, straining his ears to hear her step down the stairs, before he let his body hit the chimney, sliding into a sitting position once more. Noticing her walking towards the city, he waved after Samantha, she doing the same as she got smaller and smaller. Then she vanished in the crowd and he was aware that he was all alone again.

She was nice.

She was so, so nice.

Leaning further back he wondered what he should do now.

Mark was probably looking for him and Jack was sure he would get lectured about how running off was off limits, the least horrible thing he could think of. But the more he thought about it, the worse the ideas of what could happen swarmed his mind and he swallowed. Curling his legs closer, putting his chin on his knees, he decided that staying here was the very best idea, not wanting to confront the other, not immediately, and watching his surroundings move and breathe.

The pieces of paper he had thrown down were mostly still in their original place, swirling in the grass, the pile moving from one side to the other with every shift of the air. Trying to block out everything else, swept up in the cold breeze that was rushing past his ear he watched the pieces of paper fly further and further away as the wind picked them up, slowly but steadily dispersing them into all known directions.

What a day.


	13. Change Happens Slowly

“Time to get up.”

Jack was unsure when he had nodded off, but as he woke up to shaking, he blearily looked around, trying to figure out where he was. Lifting his head was exhausting, a heavy feeling settling there, but he managed to look up, noticing Mark, who was bending down to him. His hand went away as soon as Jack had rubbed his eyes, mumbling something about Jack’s skin being too cold, before the red head stood straight. A quick check around told Right Brain that he was still on the roof of the train station, still leaning against the chimney and staring at the now much darker village in front of him.

“It is late, we should head off.”

Jack felt unsettled by the offer, hesitantly looking back up and noting that Mark seemed just as devoid of emotion and careless as ever, crossed arms as he lifted an eyebrow.

“You’re not angry?”

“No.”

Jack blinked, still tiredness swimming in his eyes, before he put his head back on his knees, wondering: “You said back at Bob’s that you can’t feel.”

Mark nodded: “I do not.”

“Didn’t seem like that, if ya ask me,” he slurred, before he buried his head deeper into his knees, “You were pretty angry back there.”

“I can assure you, it was just a mistake on the computers end, nothing else.”

“I don’t get it.”

Mark’s shoulders sunk as he observed the other, the green head curled into the tightest ball possible. He wondered how to proceed, after a day like today he could not force him to forget, there had to be a way to show him the importance of their endeavour without crushing either of them with pressure. Still, Left Brain was frowning, asking himself why he did indeed have such an outrageous outburst. Maybe it was called for, maybe it had been an appropriate reaction, but the fact stood that he should not have been capable of it.

And still, he had been.

And the bounce of logic from the other in the heat of the moment was unusual as well.

A theory started to brew in his mind, but he brushed it aside almost immediately, not wanting to dwell on it any further.

Instead he took another theory he thought as more probable and less worrying, wanting to move on as he replied to Right Brain in a dismissing matter: “I do not feel, as said. So I am not angry with you.”

“Why?”

Left Brain realized that this would take more time and this time he was willing to spend it on this. Maybe if he took the time to explain his theory of what had transpired, it would help Jack to stay more focused. A short while after Mark had mulled these thoughts over, he decided to sit down next to the green head, who looked up surprised. Honest curiosity swirled in the other and Mark nodded, as he started slowly.

“You do realize we are functions, right?”

“You said so back there. Because ya don’t want me callin’ ye Left Brain,” Jack replied, his voice cracking, before he added confused “So, we’re not people?”

“Let me rephrase. We are still human. We were turned into people, but uncomplete, which should be logical, yes?”

Jack took a second before he nodded.

“You realize, as you love to call me that, I am the left brain side. I am the left, logical half, which the computer has so nicely put. You are the creative, emotional one.”

“That’s what I don’t get,” Jack interrupted as he looked up, blinking, “You told that Wade, too. You’re here for talkin’ and stuff like that. But I talk, too. And you, you do have emotions, or at least you act really, really convincing around others.”

“Let us take a step back here.”

Mark was about to explain further, but had to stop as he saw Jack standing up, a bit wobbly because of the fact that he had been sleeping in a seated position for at least half hour and observed him as he moved away from the red head. Then Left Brain remembered his choice of words and he pointed to the place beside him, sighing through his nose.

“I did not mean it literally, come back here.”

Jack giggled, obviously still sleep deprived, before he slipped back beside Mark, now leaning openly against the chimney, glancing to his other half with expectant eyes. Now he felt a lot calmer, Mark really not seeming to hold any grudge and he was okay with starting new, hoping all of this would get them somewhere. And as soon as Mark had set himself once again, he was ready to launch into an explanation.

“So, as you hopefully and surely know, we have been spliced.”

“I’m not dumb, Left Brain.”

The look Mark gave him was a slight mix of sarcasm and disbelief, half lidded as he lifted one of his eyebrows. Jack curled himself up once again, as he shrugged, trying to defend himself as he said: “But you are Left Brain… You’ve never been anything else before.”

“I am aware,” Mark just mumbled before he added, “Now, here comes the point of everything. We have not been spliced perfectly.”

Jack blinked, but before he could ask anything more, the other hushed him.

“Try to understand. The computer split apart Robert’s brain into you and me. As nice and uncomplicated it sounds, there is much more behind it than you are aware of.”

Right Brain just stared with a blank look and Left Brain took the silence as an invitation to specify. That is why he sighed a bit as he lifted his hands, turning in his place to face Jack better, Right Brain following his movements as the two pointing fingers of the red head intertwined.

“Look. I will make it easy for you. This is Robert, the intersection of my two fingers. The hands are you and me. We have been like this from birth on and never lost the connection before. Parts of me flowed into you and parts of you flowed into me. Do you understand so far?”

Silence, but Mark did not bother with it.

“Now, the computer ripped us apart,” he continued, his hands swiftly being moved to either side, Right Brain flinching at the velocity, “And we are each our own being. As it is, the part of me that was intertwined with you sprung back, and your part that was with me has jumped to you. The computer could have cut the fingers apart, my finger resting on your side, and your finger on mine, but that is much too complicated. It is easier to rip then to cut.”

Right Brain was still quiet as he tried to make sense of it, but Left Brain could see the other was struggling, sighing a bit. Then he snapped with his fingers as he instead tried with a metaphor the other would surely understand.

“Maybe imagine it like Robert being a sheet of paper. The computer did not have any scissors that were perfectly fit for us. When it pulled us from each other, the line between us became zig zagged, not entirely half. Instead of me being exactly the half I should be, little strips of you came with me.” And here he could see Right Brain’s eyes finally lit up in understanding. “See? Same for you. That is why you can still speak for an instance, or make logical conclusions, if not as fast as me.”

“And I thought the whole time we were opposites.”

“We still are,” Left Brain intervened, letting his hands fall into his lap, “But small parts make a small difference. It is of advantage for us, because we would not be able to live otherwise.”

Right Brain tapped his fingers against his lips in thought, before he enquired: “So if I had been unlucky, I wouldn’t talk at all?”

“The computer is not just a piece of metal. It probably did calculate the right places to rip efficiently, so no, I do not believe so,” Mark disagreed, “It would have made you able to talk in some way for certain.”

That made Jack think again and he became quiet, watching the scenery in front of him with a sense of calm.

If that was true, if they really had a tiny bit of the other, then that must mean he could actually show Mark what he wanted out of being in charge. He would be able to explain that Bo was not meant for just work. Do some fun stuff and make Mark smile for once, show him what it meant to be happy again, that there was more to live than worrying.

Jack had not heard him laugh once, not even a chuckle.

Maybe it would just help to make the other see what fun is once more, so that he would ease up on being so strict. And Jack guessed, if he tried to concentrate just a bit more, then Mark would have much less reason to get fed up with him, let him take the steering wheel more openly. And maybe it would actually really help to get more distance between him and Left Brain. That they learned the skills of the other in their own pace. Maybe this was exactly what they have been spliced for in the first place. It could be that Left Brain had to learn what having fun is on his own. And he had to learn how to focus. And they could help out if needed. Maybe that is what the computer wanted. Maybe that is what Bo needed. For them to learn stuff the other did.

It sounded solid in his mind.

He did not say it out loud, but he was set with the idea, and he nodded while Mark was starting to get up.

“I hope you are ready to leave now.”

“I’m still in charge, right?”

Mark hesitated for the tiniest amount, before he nodded: “Yes, you still are. Nothing changed.”

“Alright.”

Now he was even more dead set on his plan.

So he followed Mark’s example and got on his feet, both of them leaving for Bo’s home. But to the green head’s surprise his walk towards the window was suddenly interrupted, Mark calling out to him once more and he glanced up at his other half, who still stood at the top beside the chimney.

“I do not feel sorry, for I have no emotions,” declared Mark then suddenly as Jack lifted an eyebrow, wondering where this was going.

And if Mark was honest to himself he was as well.

“But I do know that my actions have hurt you and in that regard I am taking responsibility for it.” His shoulders fell, as he added: “I am not in any position to distribute blame, as I have to say, you have strong points declared in your favour.”

Jack tilted his head, but the soft smile that spread on his face was genuine, letting room for Mark to continue.

“We both failed in differing categories and it was childish of me to lash out like I did. I know that the last two days have been nothing but terrible, I admit. My meddling was of no profit and is another reason why I let you stay in control over us. But I do have the request that our efforts lay in solving this problem in the shortest amount of time possible, for we do not know the consequences.”

Mark sighed through his nose, shaking his head slowly before he joined him at the foot of the stairs.

“I do not know what might happen if we stay too long in this form, maybe it is positive, maybe negative, but I do not want to find that out.”

And Jack understood as he nodded.

Curiously enough neither of them said anything after that, both lost in thought, but it was obvious that they were more at ease now. After the fight, they understood the other better in his reasoning and it was a step into the right direction. That is why, as they walked by the viaduct and stepped into the lamp lights of the square, Jack voiced his discomfort to the other without a second thought, rubbing his hands.

“I’m cold.”

“Which is tragic, but we will be back soon.”

“Ye’re really lucky you got long sleeves.” He hesitated. “I’ve been still wonderin’ something.”

“Yes?”

“Why did it give ya glasses?”

Mark tilted his head, ready to open his mouth to declare that it was not of importance, but hesitated at the curious stare the other gave him. To dismiss him after a heart to heart would set them back once more and Left Brain decided that this question was not too unimportant, it was interesting he decided. For a moment he mulled it over, trying to find a reasonable explanation and just came to the conclusion that it indeed was a peculiar addition.

So he put a hand on his chin, another minute ticking by before he answered: “I do not know.”

“Maybe they’re here to make you look smarter,” Jack provided as he skipped ahead, only to walk backwards and get a good look at the other. “I mean, every smart person wears glasses, right? Sometimes they just put them on to look all intellectual, not even because they need them.”

“It could be.”

“Well, do ya need them? Can ya see without them?”

Left Brain lifted an eyebrow before he replied: “I am not certain, actually. I did not try yet to take them off to analyse that fact.”

That made Jack stop, Mark almost walking into him with a grunt, as a wide grin appeared on his face. Before the red head could really ask what the other was thinking, Right Brain was holding his hands up in the air, his legs bouncing him excitedly up and down on the empty street.

“Okay! Close yer eyes and I’ll take yer glasses!”

“Why?” Mark took a step back, “I can put them off myself just fine.”

“No, no, no! Let’s make it funny!” Jack giggled, “Close yer eyes and I put them away! Then you open them and say what ye see!”

But Mark’s eyes narrowed in mistrust, pupils wandering up and down the other, as he replied with a hint of apprehension: “Do not dare steal them, Jack, and make a joke out of this. I do not want a repeat of the pond incident.”

“I’m not! I swear!” Jack replied, his voice turning soft as he stopped his bouncing and earnestly stared at him, “I just wanna know.”

Mark was still unsure, the chances of the other running off with his glasses and him tumbling after were predictably high and not really something he had been planning for today. He would never be able to catch up to Jack if the world was a wild blur of colours and there was also always the chance of Right Brain letting them fall. But considering that the other had a hard day after him, and that he was sporting the absolute, most innocent face, made him relent, rolling his eyes.

“Well,” he sighed then, relaxing his shoulders, “Go ahead, eyes are closed.”

Jack smiled broadly as the other leaned forward, the green head stretching himself in return upwards, carefully settling his fingers on the thick, black rims. His tongue stuck out from the side of his mouth in concentration, as he pulled them to his chest, before he looked up at the other with a thoughtful expression. The more he looked at him, the more he realized the difference and was giddy to know what the other saw.

“There! Ye can open them!”

Mark blinked a bit, as he stared at Jack, before he let his eyes roam, regarding the trees, the fountain, the houses, the lights, followed by the city in the distance. Then he looked back at the other, who tapped with his foot in impatience, dying to know.

“…And?”

Mark took another look around, before he responded: “I do see, I can make things out, but I cannot deny the blurriness.”

“How blurry? Like lookin’ through smudged glass blurry, or like I got shampoo in ma eyes blurry?”

Mark decided not to ask what the difference between the two kinds of blurriness were and instead settled on saying: “I can make out your shape and I can see the trees in the background for example. But it is more of a colourful shadow then a decent picture. And the windows on the houses, they seem to swim and vanish. Those I cannot make out even though I know they are there.”

“So you do need them!” Jack nodded, happy with his discovery, “That’s kinda cool, your vision got bad!”

Mark dead-panned: “Define the world “cool”, because using it as a synonym for an absolutely terrible eyesight is not what I personally associate that word with.”

Jack lifted his hands as he apologized furiously: “Sorry! Sorry, didn’t mean ta sound rude! I think it’s just… I guess neat that the computer gave ya glasses!” He smiled a bit helplessly. “Even though I don’t know why ye need them in the first place. Bo doesn’t need them?”

“That is a mystery I am too tired to solve,” the other answered, starting to feel the events of the two days taking a toll on him, for he had not slept in that time span either, “As well as the question why you have such a thick, Irish accent.”

“I like it! But good question…” he mumbled, fiddling with the glasses in his hands, “Maybe his family has Irish blood?”

“I cannot remember any family member mentioning it, but it is a good possibility.”

“So he’s related to Vikings?”

Left Brain did not even want to start to decipher how the other had come to that conclusion, so he humoured him as he just shrugged: “Maybe, who knows?”

“That would be really badass to be honest! Even though he’s not really build like one.”

“Vikings were not all bulky war machines that scream.”

“But a lot were! I like to scream!”

That made Mark frown as he warned: “Do not dare scream, Jack.”

Puffing his cheek the green head tried to keep in his laughing in, failing miserably.

“If you scream in any public place, I will literally throw you in front of a car.”

That made Jack laugh harder as he put a hand to his mouth, squeezing out a: “You wouldn’t.”

“Dare to test me?”

“You still wouldn’t.”

“No I wouldn’t…” Mark sighed bitterly.

Jack shook his head but he felt a lot lighter than before as he pointed out: “I wouldn’t test you.”

“Another thing, then.”

“Yeah?”

“May I have my glasses back?” He pointed down as he closed his eyes. “I am getting a headache.”

“Oh! Of course, sorry!” Jack sputtered, as he secured them back where they belonged, “They look better on yer face anyway!”

Gratefully, Mark set them right on his nose and he had to admit that he was bothered by the fact that his eyes worsened. Having to figure out why was not a thing he had planned putting on his list and it was irritating not to know. But remembering back in the lab he had noticed the blur well, come to think of it. But there it had been much heavier as he had taken his glasses off to inspect them, having put them immediately back on his face as he had heard noise.

Now it seemed that his eyes had gotten better, even if only slightly.

Another worming feeling spread out and he frowned as Jack waited for him to open the door, both stepping in and throwing their shoes off. Settling into the kitchen to get some food into their stomachs, Mark decided that he would visit Wade first thing in the morning, needing to find out if he was right or not about his theory. If he was lucky he would be back before Jack noticed, knowing he had promised him to let him decide but not wanting to take the chance to lose another day.

But the day was not over yet, as he saw Jack, instead of walking up the stairs to get sleep, wandering off to the living room, settling himself on the couch.

“It is almost midnight.”

“I’m not sleepy!” Jack replied, looking around for the remote control that was probably in between the pillows again, his body slack over the back rest of the couch, his arms searching around the cushions, “It’s not like I took a nap or anything.”

Mark admitted, that was a good excuse.

It also played into his hands about his plans for tomorrow.

“Well, have fun.”

“You’re not gonna join me?”

Shaking his head, Mark denied the offer: “I am good. I will rest upstairs.”

“Alrighty! Night, Left Brain!”

That made Mark stop in his tracks once more, gripping the doorframe with white knuckles: “You will never learn, will you?”

“It’s just… really hard for me,” Jack flinched, sighing in reply.

Mark could have just walked off at this point, slips of the tongue would never end with the green head and putting the effort to change habits were just too much of a hassle. But he knew, if he walked away now, the other would continue and there had to be a way to at least minimize the accidents, or at least to contain them to a certain extend.

As he leant against the wall, he proposed: “Let’s make a compromise. You can call me Left Brain if we are here, in Robert’s four walls. Here is the safe zone, if you want. Here I will not once remind you, how does that sound?”

“Why is it so easy for ya to keep my name?” Jack asked instead, annoyed with himself, “You make it look so easy!”

“Call it natural talent.”

“So it’s just easy to you?”

“Yes.”

Jack only groaned at the response as he let his body slide forwards, flipping to the side, head falling on the couch rest as Mark took a moment to blink at him. Before he could ask if he was doing alright however, the hit having been a bit loud, Jack triumphantly tugged the remote control out and held it above his head with a smirk.

“Outside you will need to call me Mark however,” Left Brain added afterwards, as Jack nestled himself into a comfortable position, “Or at least try to, because I will not stop reminding you, so we are in the clear.”

“I think I can do that” he replied carefully, “I will definitely try!”

“That’s all I’m asking for, Good night, Jack.”

“Night, L…” he frowned.

“Safe zone.”

“Night, Left Brain!”

Mark let out a snort and left, listening how the TV was being turned on as he walked up the stairs. For a second he actually wondered if he should have joined the other, but ultimately decided against it. Jack had a full night of sleep, he had not. And if he wanted to be functional tomorrow he had to rest. There was nothing he could work on now, there was no reason to be awake and he was sure Jack would be snoozing the morning away, giving him time.

With that in mind he settled, hoping tomorrow would finally give him the answer on what to do, the unsettling thought of him having possibly lied to Right Brain bothering him behind closed eyelids until he blacked out.


	14. Good Morning, I Lost My Other Half

Mark woke up with a start and scrambled out of his covers, trying to locate the noise in a frenzy that had suddenly invaded his ear drums.

Jumping down the stairs, he reached the living room and he had to take a breath, realizing it was just the TV blaring music at the highest possible volume, the red head diving for the controller on the table right after to shut it off. Then, for a seconds, he just stood there, breathing hard as the remote looked like he was holding a gun to the screen, before he sighed out a puff.

That really had been a wake-up call.

He had to rub his eyes as a yawn fell from his lips and he took a moment to stretch himself, throwing the device from his hands onto the couch, before settling beside it afterwards. He had to take a minute to get out of his sleep-drunken state as he looked around and noted that the living room was still dark as night. A glance outside showed that the sun had barely touched the sky, a deep violet starting to spread out, stars disappearing with every minute he sat there. Then he tried to read the clock that was hanging beside the plant in the corner of the room and he squinted at the hands.

6 am.

The TV must have been on the whole time then, because the broadcaster turned the program back on at 6, that is why he had not heard anything before that. What a waste of electricity he thought, such a hazard, as he planned to remind his other half to not let things on when leaving a room.

Then he wondered where Jack actually was.

Cursing under his breath he first had to stomp up the stairs again, trying to find his glasses, which were laying on the bedside table, before he righted out the covers of the guest bed and then stepped into Bo’s room, glancing in. No sight of the green head and he jogged his way down again, searching for him but coming up empty.

Where did he go?

Last night it did not seem as if they had any bad blood between them, it was actually calm to know that the other was more aware of his thoughts. But why then had he left the house?

Had he seen something?

Was he okay?

Suddenly a hollow feeling filled him and he startled out of his musings, shaking his head vigorously to empty it. He had no time to wonder why or where the other had gone to, more important was to finally get the data to work on it. He would not put it past Jack to just go outside to take a breather, maybe find Nina or Wade, or really anybody, to talk to while he was bored. He was sure if he met up with one of them they would readily tell him that they saw him, meaning he could concentrate on his own mission.

At the same time, they would never be up at this hour.

Who in heaven’s sake was awake at 6 am by choice?

Deciding that it did not matter, he went outside, hoping in the back of his mind that the square would tell him some hints on the whereabouts of the green head. Stepping out of the door made him realise however exactly why Jack was gone.

The square was filled with life.

In his mind Mark added up the days and he realised it was Sunday, meaning that on Tuesday was the festival, in conclusion that everybody that did not have the time to stay in the village was celebrating today. Even if Tuesday was official the day autumn came this year, nobody cared to start sooner and end it later.

There was a reason to wake up by choice at 6 am.

And it was no wonder Jack was awake at this ungodly hour, probably running around.

Mark noticed in that moment that his heart was beating less hard against his rips and he put a hand on it, confusion written on his face. He had not even realised it, and he had to take a second to glance down to see if he was feeling correctly. Before he could wonder any longer about it, he slammed the door shut, hoping to find Wade as fast as possible. He surely heard from people that Jack was on his own, as talkative everybody was about them, and he had to get that laptop as fast as possible, taking the chance to connect both of his problems into one swift solution.

It was not that hard to get to the café, he knew the way, but on his whole walk he was still keeping an eye out for the other, trying to hear the Irish accent in the mass of people, watching out if there was any speck of green hair or shirt, praying that he had not wandered too far off. At the same time he could not deny that it was nice to take his time to look around, the people behind stands sometimes greeting him as he walked by. Most prominent were the children that were running circles around, being the most energetic and having the time of their life. The lights that everybody had worked on to hang up were littered across every building and tree and in the morning it looked spectacular, as if they had taken the stars and brought them down to earth.

He did not mind slowing his pace as he noted and counted the people he knew, walking by him and not acknowledging him in the slightest every single time. Bitter it was, but at the same time he had not hoped for any of them to notice who he really was.

In the café was already lively commotion, people sitting at their tables and eating breakfast, most of them drinking coffee to wake up. A short overview showed Mark that Wade was behind the counter, reading the news as he stood by the coffee machine and filled a new cup. Stepping closer, Wade immediately took notice of him, smiling brightly as he let the paper fall on the counter and leant over it, greeting him.

“Hey, Mark! You’re up early, enjoying the day?”

“I have actually two things I have to discuss with you.”

Taking the cup from the machine and offering it to the person waiting, the girl first curiously blinking down at the red head before she wandered off with it, Wade tilted his head: “Yeah?”

“The first is about the computer.”

“Oh yeah, I actually absolutely forgot about that!” Wade snipped with his fingers, as he apologized with a worried smile, “I was just really drained and after work left for home. You could have ringed though!”

Mark blinked, before he shook his head: “It’s alright, do not worry yourself. Actually we have been busy with… a surprise you can say and we couldn’t make it. Seems it was in your favour.”

Wade came around the counter as he saw someone new stepping in and he took a moment to write down the order, before turning back, Mark following the whole time: “Then I was lucky! If you want, my shift is soon over, so we could walk to my place right after.” He poured another cup. “What’s the other thing?”

“I lost Jack.”

Wade flinched hard as he almost poured the coffee over the edge of the cup, escaping being burned by a hair, before he looked up with a tight frown.

“What do you mean you lost him?”

“I woke up this morning and he was nowhere in sight. Judging by your reaction he hasn’t come over here.”

“And you’re calm about this?!” Wade hissed as he leant closer, “What if something happens to him? Yesterday you didn’t even let him out of your sight!”

He leant closer, nose almost touching Mark’s.

“You predicted him fucking up shit. What do you mean you lost him?!”

Mark took a second as he analysed Wade’s words and he had to say, he was not calm about it at all. He did not feel concerned, he refused to think that way, but he knew he had to find the other as soon as possible, restlessness tugging at him. Even if the other hindered him in most actions he had to have him in eyesight and he was not sure what he really wanted at this moment. Either going with Wade, getting the data, or find Jack, who was about and running, Mark having no knowledge on what he was doing.

Could a left brain feel conflicted in a decision?

He had to shrug as he answered softly: “Both matters are equal in their importance.”

“Are you kidding me…?” Wade slapped his hand over his eyes, taking the coffee and giving it to the waiting customer, before he turned back to Mark. “Dude, I’m glad you’re having faith in Jack, but you can’t just ignore him and not know where he is.”

As Mark stepped out of the way, Wade putting pencil and paper on the counter, he was about to put his white apron away from his hips, wanting to launch into another rant. But then Nina suddenly out of nowhere jumped on Wade’s shoulders, the brunet almost losing his balance in the process.

“God, Nina! You scared me!” he yelped, the weight making itself comfortable on top of him, tiny legs dangling down to his sides.

“You should not use God’s name in vain! Mom said that’s bad,” she grinned before waving at Mark from her heightened point of view, “Hi Mark!”

“Good morning to you, too, Nina.”

Wade glared slightly up at her, as she had crossed her arms on top of his head, a smirk leaving him: “I assume you want me to make pancakes again?”

“Well, I actually came because I saw you and Mark talking, but pancakes would be pretty nice.”

Mark shook his head as he pointed out: “Has she turned into the boss of yours?”

“You’ve known me for years now. Have you ever assumed I will ever not be bossed around by tiny children?”

“Not really, considering you have been babysitting tiny children since you have been 15.”

Which was no surprise really. Wade was a gentle person, he was not one to get angry over the small things and was mostly natural about the bigger ones. He had his fair share in the past trying to force his way through life with a hot head attitude and getting frustrated over pretty much everything. But he had always been a perfect go to for the parents to leave their children with, for them to play around and for the parents to not worry over them to storm off and hurt themselves. That soft spot had never left him over the years and nowadays, after all his experience, one could say he indeed made it his job to be bossed around by prepubescents.

That is why Wade, while working at the café in summer, replaced the teachers from Vinestone in the winter, the snow a giant blockade.

But now, as Wade tried to retort, Nina yelped in, crossing her arms.

“I’m not tiny!”

“Tell that to my shoulders, pipsqueak,” Wade hummed, before he slowly lifted the girl above his head and setting her on top of the counter, “Okay, little lady, we have to stop using me as vintage point, you don’t want to kill my back right?”

“You guys looking for Jack?”

“Do you know where he is?” Mark enquired a bit too swiftly, Wade rolling his eyes at the girl and the clever escape of answering him, while she put her hand to her cheek, seeming unsure.

Then she announced: “Well, I saw him around this morning and he walked off with Spencer. I wanted to go look for them myself later if I’m honest.”

That made Wade turn back to Mark, hands in his pockets.

“Okay, I have an idea. You and Nina both go look for Jack, he has to be somewhere near for sure, while I finish work around here, go get the laptop and put it on Bo’s doorstep. If both is equally important to you, fine, but it’s better if we split the jobs then.”

The girl interrupted him with a wave of her hand: “What about breakfast?”

“Alright then,” Wade sighed with a small smile, “I make Nina first her pancakes and then she can go look out for the escaped green man while I go for the device.” He turned his head to the blonde. “Better?”

“Much better!” she cheered, as her eyes locked back to Mark, “We’ll find him, no worries!”

“I am not worrying, of course we will find him,” Mark replied put off, slightly shaking his head, before he asked the one in the hoodie “What will you do afterwards, if I may ask?”

“Go back to work?” smirked Wade as he shook his head, “I have to do my job, and I only have that many breaks. Teddy chased me off the couch last evening, because I fell asleep, so you can assume how well I’m doing on balancing things.”

Then he stepped closer, whispering to the red head as he repeated pressed: “Find Jack, alright?”

And with that they separated, Mark leaving Wade with Nina and on his own once more, as he tried to think of where Jack might have run off this time.

While he searched, Wade’s words made him queasy and he actually made sense of what he had said. Mark had just dismissed Jack, pointing, actually pointing out that data and a person were equal in their importance. Even worse was that Mark could not even admit it to himself that he would have first looked for Jack anyway, but having hoped Wade would talk sense into him.

He had.

Now the urgency was back in his step, heart again loudly pounding, simply focused on one thing alone.

He would never admit to himself that Nina’s words burned him. He did not worry, he looked for solutions. He would not admit to himself that he was feeling anything. He could not feel, it was not in his nature, should not be in his nature. The computer made him feel, that is all that it was, just like he had explained to Right Brain. It was a default, a small part that felt obligated in making him queasy.

Very queasy, getting worse by the minute.

He needed to find the other.

“We had one rule… One single rule…”

Mark mumbled under his breath, snapping his head back and forth.

“And he can’t even do that…”

Gritting his teeth he followed the next street, his hair standing up.

He should have known Jack would somehow ruin his plans, he always did. Of course he had not listened and stayed close. That had been too much to hope for. And now he was out there, on his own, wandering around.

What if something happened to him? He never thinks about consequences, he surely will get himself into trouble.

“Where…?”

What if he got hurt? Was he hurt? Could he have gotten hurt already?

His mind told him no, there was no possible way.

His chest tightened.

He should have looked for him far sooner.

He never should have lost him.

He could not lose him.

That thought struck and a force hit him in the back, knocking his glasses away and he spluttered, having to try balance himself out so he would not topple over in a bunch of limbs.

His lungs heaved heavily as he tried to look what hit him, before noticing that the weight was still clinging to his back, arms and legs curling around him.

“LEFT BRAIN, LEFT BRAIN!” Jack shouted behind him, Mark’s ears ringing, “YA NEED TO SEE THIS!”

Mark let his shoulders fall, his eyes half lidded as he accepted his fate, a relieved sigh escaping him. Putting his hand to his chest he felt it calm down as well and for a moment he just needed to breathe in and realize that the other was back.

Then he grumbled, staring at the street with an exhausted expression: “And there you are again… What a joy.”

Right Brain felt the other wanting to stand straight again, so he jumped down, hands curled in front of him and a smile hanging on to his lips as he watched the red head dust himself off. Righting his glasses Mark glanced down at his shirt, eyes narrowing and wondering why he had been acting so out of commotion anyway. Of course that whirlwind was alright.

“Didn’t I specifically tell you that we should NOT lose sight of each other?” he gritted through his teeth then, “We are separated enough as it is…”

But Jack was completely ignoring him, missing the hint of concern as he grabbed the other’s arm and tried to pull Mark with him: “Yeah, yeah, I know, I know! Now come on Left Brain, you have to see!”

“It’s Mark, Jack,” the red head pressed out through his lips, “It’s still Mark.”

Jack was ignoring him in favour of pulling him towards the pond and Mark had to lift an eyebrow. Right Brain was so focused, his eyes almost shining and the smile on his face was fond, as if he was going to present a master piece to the other.

“So what do you want to show me exactly?” he enquired, feeling suddenly the vibrations the other gave off from himself, “You’re literally trembling with excitement.”

And as soon as they stood at the edge of the hill, overlooking the pond, Jack let go and stretched his arms out to it, his smile getting wider and wider by the second: “This!”

Mark looked down to what Jack was pointing at, but nothing caught his eye that really mattered. There was the pond, calm as ever, trees standing in the same places. People were roaming, a few dogs barking and enjoying their morning walks, but he could not understand what had Jack in such a happy mood. So he glanced back at the other, who was still smiling like the radiating sun.

“That’s a lake, Jack,” he then specified, “It’s pretty but…”

That made the other laugh heartily as he stepped closer once more: “No, no, no! In the water!” He grabbed the other by the face, each hand pressed to one cheek and moved him besides his own, making him look in the same direction. “See?”

Now Mark could see what the other meant, finally recognizing the 3 colourful spots down below, the rest of the trouble children with a stack of paper beside them. Watching them materialized a mental image and he had to gasp between his squished cheeks, knowing fully what they were doing.

“We did that too as children!” Jack once more called out, his voice soft, “Don’t you remember?”

There was no possible way for Mark not to remember.

“I do! We…” he caught himself, as he corrected, “Bo loved to fold paper boats.”

Bo had always had a knack to rip paper and fold it apart. It was a normal thing for him to do when he was nervous or when he anticipated something. So it was no wonder that he loved to fold the special paper boats in autumn, race after race, without anybody telling him that he was breaking a rule of their tradition. Now that Mark saw the picture in front of him, he knew why Jack had been so thrilled yesterday to let one boat float.

“I can’t believe how long ago that was…”

Because Bo had as a growing adult never picked that activity up again. There was either too much to do or he simply let the children play, not wanting to bother them.

Another reason why yesterday seemed so similar to him.

But this time Jack had other plans as he let the other go, leaning closer as he grinned expectantly up at him: “Me either. Care to join the fun? For old times’ sake?”

And here flipped a switch as Mark let his shoulders relax.

Glancing at the other he shrugged. He could not deny the nostalgia that welled up in him, pinpointing it back to the computer once more, and he sighed softly through his nose, before saying: “Sure. You are in charge, right?”

Jack had to keep a squeal in as he replied with a: “Right!” before he was already on his way down, Mark following.

Soon enough the kids crowded around the two, greeting Mark with grinning faces, waving at him. While Jack talked to Spencer, who was trying to stick two pieces of paper together to create a bigger boat, Olivia and Mai introduced themselves to Mark, who had not met them properly in this form yet. He shook their small hands as they shot them out and soon enough they explained him in all possible details that they were going to do a race, having just waited for Jack to find Mark. They told him that Jack had been roaming the streets, watching for something to do and they had promptly invited him to folding paper with them, proposing the simple race. As they had wanted to start though, he had stopped them, begging them to wait until he had found the red head.

Mark glanced because of that to the other, who was patiently helping Spencer out, and he nodded, another heavy stone falling into his stomach he could not explain.

Then he saw Nina stepping closer, huffing as she excused herself for having needed so much time to find them all. While doing that she pushed her hair up again and again, reminding him of his task.

The children watched him curiously, as well as Jack, as Mark told Nina to hold up, waving her closer before rummaging in his trouser pockets. Each of them blinked as he had his fingers curled around something, presenting it with a small sigh.

As the hair clip came into view, hell broke loose.

Each of them were amazed as they asked him over and over where he had found it and he had to repeat that he could not answer them if they kept talking into his sentence. Jack was grinning the most as he helped secure the accessory back in her hair, she twirling and screeching about the fact that her hair was not in her way anymore, while simultaneously turning to Mark, declaring that he was magic as well. Spencer then yelled in that he had known from the beginning, while Olivia and Mai laughed behind their hands, agreeing with them in the same heartbeat.

While the children laughed, skipping around in happiness, Jack leant closer to Mark, as he asked: “Seriously though. Where did ya find it?” He gasped. “Was it a sock monster?!”

Mark rolled his eyes, as he answered: “No, it was in your pockets the whole time.”

“What?”

As the red head explained, Jack’s face lit up and he snapped his fingers, remembering now as well. He laughed heartily at that, realising his mistake, but Mark shook his head instead, dismissing it. There while the children clung to the both of them as they led them closer to the water, pushing paper into their hands.

Mark wanted to give it back, saying he would be content enough with watching, but Jack however stopped him. At the slight glare of the other he just grinned.

“How about you fold one?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Why not?” Jack smiled, “It’s fun!”

“I’m not going to lower myself to such a task.”

But Jack shook his head, as he explained: “It might be easy, but that’s the good thing about it! Everybody can fold a boat, doesn’t make it any less great!”

Mark stared at the sheet and grumbled: “It is still a low level task.”

“Just try it!” Jack insisted, still smiling in his efforts to include Mark, “I’m sure you’ll-…!”

Just in that moment Nina decided to let her presence known, grabbing Right Brain by the arm as she shyly looked up to him: “Jack…?”

“What is it, Nina?” he asked her friendly, leaving Mark to his own devices.

“Sorry, it’s just…” She pointed back as she sighed with an embarrassed smile. “The others really wanna do the race…”

And suddenly they heard Spencer call out angrily, Olivia denying him any more pieces of paper while Mai tried to settle the two of them, yelling that they had to play fair. Jack could see that they were getting impatient, he could not blame them, for they already had been waiting some time for him and Mark.

Looking down at Nina she had closed her eyes, mumbling with a soft smile: “They are starting to get competitive…”

Jack grinned at first worriedly, before he pointed sideways, explaining to a retreating Nina, who had her hands full with holding Spencer back: “No worries! We’ll be right there.” He looked up to the other for confirmation. “Right, Ma-…?”

And he stopped short as he saw Mark holding a tiny paper bird in his hand, finishing it with twisting one of the wings into position.

As he noticed the other staring him down with an unreadable expression, he just responded offhandedly: “I made a swan instead.” He brushed it off from creaks, cleaning the folds so they would hold together better. “Seemed more challenging.”

The words were nothing short than disinterested and Mark was not too fond of the bird, still too simple in his opinion. But his other half thought completely elsewise, as he grabbed Mark with on hand by the shoulder, pulling him closer, while the other went to his own mouth, trying to keep in his squeal. He could not form words at first, absolutely abashed by the tiny, delicate origami.

“LEFT BRAIN!” he then shrilled, “IT’S ADORABLE!!”

Mark cringed at the volume and was shortly out of action as Jack moved behind him, both hands on his shoulders, starting to push him towards the lake, where the children still bickered over who had taken the paper of the other.

“Now you can race, too!” declared the green head as he seated himself by the edge, pulling Mark down with him, who in return just sat there in annoyance.

“Yay…” He let out before he was assaulted by the children as they wanted to see the swan as well, cooing at it.

Soon enough everybody was settled, Jack and Mark in the middle as the four of them rearranged themselves around them. Spencer was on his knees as he balanced his boat on the water, blowing it away while Olivia and Mai put them as close together as they could, so they would not get lonely. Nina put hers right after, as did Jack, the last being Mark, the swan as last racer joining the fray. As they watched, the children cheering on their small fleets, Left Brain had to admit that this was nice.

It had been a long time since Bo had actually folded a boat and put it in the pond to let it race, plus it was calming to watch. Even though the children did not let up with cheering on their own boats, he did not mind. Even as Nina held on to his shoulder, leaning forward to see better, he could not help but let it be, not wanting to shoo her away. He did not realize that he was serenely smiling, watching as the group curled its way around the centre of the spring and calculating which one would first have the amount of momentum to get its course into the direction of the river.

But what he did not notice, Jack surely did.

As he had glanced to the side, wanting to ask him if he had an idea on who would win, he had seen Mark first fighting it off, before his face had relaxed into the picture he was seeing now. And he was absolutely speechless. At first he had wanted to scream out again, wanting to show his excitement, but he stopped himself immediately, knowing if he did, the smile would vanish in a second. So instead he had lost focus on the boat and decided to stare at the other, still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he had done it. He had made Mark smile with something they both enjoyed.

Pride swelled up in him, so much so that he felt dizzy, having to look at the ground, pressing his fingers to his forehead to keep it at bay.

This was incredible and he tried not to laugh out loud.

But soon enough he was able to share his excitement, even if it was for the fact that the paper boats had made it through the current. The children were pointing out who was in front, shaking Mark in the process for it was his swan that had taken the lead.

And as it crossed over to the dark side of the forest, excitement exploded, Mark surrounded by the others as he tried to fight them off, the smile gone but burned into Jack’s mind. Watching the red head being buried underneath the four, flailing as he tried to push the weights off, his own hopes rose.

They were getting there, they were getting better.


	15. The Walls Are Crumbling

Half of the day had already gone by in a flash.

Jack could not even fathom how it had happened, but from one point to the other the light of day had suddenly come, the sun burning over them. The both of them had spent the whole time with the children, the four of them dragging them around. They seemed fascinated by the two, maybe because they were catching on to the fact that they did not act all around normal or maybe just because they had something to snicker about when Left and Right Brain fell into their small bickering’s in between. Jack had noticed that Mark had not asked once about leaving however, maybe considering that he had promised Right Brain to not interfere with his plans.

That of course made the green head feel guilty to some extend for he had not asked the other if he was alright with spending the day with the four trouble makers.

Still, he was overjoyed being with the kids, listening as Olivia told him about her self-defence fighting lessons with Mai or how Spencer had just barely sneaked out this morning to fetch some more paper from his aunts room without waking her.

And as they re-joined with Wade in front of the café, Jack had to try incredibly hard not to scream out what he had witnessed a few hours ago. The one in the hoodie was just about to enter, saying he would leave the group to their shenanigans, but Jack did not hesitate, taking his chance as he dragged him away from the others.

While Mark was busy with the children, Jack could just about overhear how he was telling Spencer that: “No, it is not a good idea to stuff the whole candy apple into your mouth to see if it fits. You’ll destroy your teeth not only by caries but also by crushing them to dust.”

Wade there while blinked a bit surprised for having been dragged away, as he smirked, asking: “Jack? What’s up, my dude?”

“Mark smiled!”

Jack was unable to contain his excitement as his shoulders went up to his ears, hands curled up in front of him, trying hard not to tremble.

But Wade had to take a second as he lifted his arms in a stopping motion: “Wait, wait, wait…” Then he clapped his hands together, his own mouth forming into a grin, his eyes wide in disbelief. “Are you serious? Left Brain smiled?!”

Jack only had to put his hands on Wade’s shoulders for his friend to understand and both stared back at Mark, who had his hand in front of his eyes, Spencer trying to push the candy apple in.The other children cheered him on, but Mark tried to argue again that it would never fit, being met with four determined gazes. Wade was not sure if it could be true, the scene he saw not really underlining the truth, but one look back at Right Brain told him that it happened, his eyes shining as if he had just seen a miracle.

Which it certainly was.

But another thought crossed him and his smile turned sour as he took Jack even farther away, plainly wondering: “How is it going with Left Brain, buddy?”

“Good?” Jack hesitated, before shrugging, “He’s a bit cold, but he can’t help that.”

“Yeah, thought so.”

“But I think he’s starting to like me! He let me fully in charge, did you know?”

Wade lifted an eyebrow: “In charge?”

“Yeah!”

“Well, that’s great, I’m happy for you!” he answered a bit confused but just as relived to see him so bouncy, “Seems like you’re having a good time now, huh?”

Jack nodded, before his shoulders fell: “Well, we did fight and stuff.” Then his face lit up. “But nothing a talk didn’t do! We had tons of fun since then! I think he’s really starting to trust me, too!”

Wade was not going to ask what the fight was about, for the fact that it did not seem to matter now anyway, so he settled on saying: „I’m really glad he’s going easier on you now. You think very highly of him, don’t you?”

That made Jack perk up even more as he responded with: “Yeah, of course! He knows a lot and always knows what to do.” He tipped against his head. “He’s really smart.”

Wade had to softly smile at the enthusiasm: “He is, I’m sure.”

Nodding, Jack glanced back, before something settled in his face that was way too heavy for Wade’s liking and he followed the gaze, watching as Mark had crouched down and told Spencer that he should really stop his tries, the kid crossing his arms but nodding, knowing he could not do it. Mai on the other hand was ready with a smaller apple and Mark had to bury his head in his hands as his words fell on deaf ears. Jack smiled but Wade could easily read the worry in them as he was the one to put a hand to his shoulder.

“I… just wish he wouldn’t worry so much all the time. He’s so smart, but sometimes… so dumb. I would like him to be happy. He’s always hurrying.”

“He’s the analytical one. So he worries by nature a bit more. This is about getting Bo back, so I see why he’s so dead set on it,” Wade provided as he shrugged, “You are the one who’s responsible for being happy, aren’t you? So you try to make him forget about the worries.”

Jack sagged, before he mumbled: “I guess.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong.”

“I actually don’t really know anymore.”

“You don’t?”

Jack shook his head, as he instead mumbled: “If we just could have… normal conversations. With him they always go… I don’t know,” he frowned, trying to get the right words to convey his sentiments, “He doesn’t really listen… He listens but he doesn’t listen. Not the real way, he tries but it’s because he has told himself he has to, not because he has to, you know?”

Wade tilted his head.

“He’s always been a bit against the way I do things,” Jack continued, hoping that the other would get him anyway, “We never really agreed on anything ever, but now he never even lets me do things, always says its better he does things himself. Now I always only watch, like I’m not part of the equation anymore or something.” He gasped. “Oh! I knew that one!”

“What?”

“Equation!” Jack repeated with a squeal, “I must have picked that up somewhere and I remembered!”

Now Wade had to chuckle, the worry about the gloomy Right Brain leaving him for a few seconds: “Great job!” Then he had to shake his head. “Well, when you are a Left Brain you only see everything from a “I need to do it or we are doomed” side, I guess. Especially in hard times. Like the pressure to keep everything as organized as possible must have a connection there?”

“I wish I could help with that. I wanna help.”

“That’s a legitimate wish to have, Right Brain” Wade nodded, “I’m sure you’ll talk things out with Mark at some point. He’ll listen to you, in a real way.”

“I’m just scared it will go all stupid again. Like it always does when I try to help. Everything always goes haywire.”

“Haywire?”

“All I touch it just goes into an overdrive, you know? And Left Brain is the one to make it even again. I’m like a walking disaster, that’s what I always was. And now I turned into an even bigger one, that’s why I think he doesn’t like me… That’s why he doesn’t even give me a chance anymore.”

“Come on, I’m sure you are over reacting, you aren’t a disaster. You just act on impulses,” Wade tried, “Everybody makes mistakes and you learn by doing. If Left Brain makes all the decisions now and ignored you the last few years, then how would you have learned? You’re just starting out new. And mistakes are okay in that process, you’ll get the hang of it back at some point.”

Jack nodded a bit, but did not say anything, Wade picking apart the issue with a frown.

Now Bo’s actions made so much more sense, he mused.

“Well, look.” Wade decided to speak up once more, turning Jack so the green head would really put his focus on him instead of following what Mark was doing, the one in question trying to keep Nina away from taking more apples of the counter to find one that fits into a mouth, “Maybe you just have to put your foot down and tell Mark how you feel instead of tiptoeing around it. Tell him that you want to do more than watch even if he doesn’t like your way.”

“I kind of already did but…” he sighed, “I think it’s just me.”

“How so?”

The question made Jack let his shoulders fall, wringing his hands together and suddenly something seemingly burned on his tongue, Wade patiently waiting for him to speak up. He was accustomed to Bo’s moments of silence, so he did not mind waiting for Jack.

“…You know what Bo wants the most?”

That was unexpected.

“Not really,” Wade finally provided, “He’s secretive about a lot of things, didn’t like burdening others, we both know that. Being best friends over the years doesn’t really change that.”

“Bo is a funny guy.”

“Yep.”

“He wants to make people happy.”

Wade nodded, unsure on where this was going.

And Right Brain continued, his voice picking up speed the more he said: “Yeah. He always thinks about how nice it must be to work in a field where he can make people laugh. Like theatre or comedy. That is why he writes so many notes with ideas and hangs them around the room or he sings so many times even if the situation doesn’t call for that. Because he’s trying to make others happy, because he tries to remind himself that’s what he wants.”

Wade sagged a bit, not entirely sure what to make of the new information he was getting: “I see…”

“I… I want to make others happy. I want to do that.”

“Does Left Brain know that?”

Jack nodded hesitantly.

“So, why don’t you guys agree on that, to focus on a job that would, as you put it, make others happy?” he waved with his hands in the air, “I mean, that’s something you can really bond over, isn’t it? I don’t get the whole… weird stuff about the computer. But it did say it would be fusing you back when you got along, something like that, right? Maybe that’s exactly it?”

“I want to make people happy.”

Silent blinking was the response, but Jack continued.

“Left Brain knows what I want. But he also knows what he wants and I respect that because that’s what they wanted.”

For a second Jack just stopped, lifting his hands to his chest as he curled them around his body right afterwards.

Looking up, he shook his head.

“I’m scared, Wade. Because he’s right, he’s right with everything. And that’s why I mess up, because… because I don’t know anymore what to do. I want to do okay but not like this.”

And then the tears gathered.

“Because his way is not my way.”

He had to take a breath to calm down before he continued.

“I never wanted to do what he told me at any point and everyday it was just getting worse. Even now I am still so selfish, it’s only me because if I had just listened it would be all the same and all would be okay and nobody would need to deal with all of this. If I had stopped fighting and just let it go and just accepted it all, then we wouldn’t be here. Left Brain is right and I’m wrong and I’m trying to fix it all but I am scared I’m messing up because all I ever do is mess up and they knew it too but I didn’t listen and Left Brain knew but I didn’t listen because I never listen and I didn’t mean to, I really didn’t and I got what I deserved but I can’t do this. I can’t and I want it back to when we were kinda okay but we never really were and I messed up that one day and I can’t take it back because I messed up and it’s all my fault that Bo was messed up and-”

That last part made Wade slap Jack immediately over the head, Right Brain first flinching away, the stray tears rolling down his cheeks, before he stood in shock.

Then he glared, hissing in pain.

“What was that for?!”

“For saying Bo is messed up,” Wade replied with a bitter face, his lips pressed together, Jack ducking into himself, “Back when he was a child his silly antics were fun, fuck anybody else who says otherwise. Sure, sometimes it was dangerous, sure sometimes he messed up and I screamed at him for pulling me into his shit, but anybody saying it didn’t make me or others laugh at the end of the day are out of their mind.”

A sigh.

“People always discouraged Bo, even people who are most important to him and it sucks. And now you? Mark is discouraging you, but even when you mess up, it’s nothing to be ashamed about. You are you, you were always doing great. Take it from me, Bo and I had this discussion a million times by now. You were there.”

His glare intensified but a smile was on his lips.

“Bo is a good kind of messed up. And so are Left Brain and you, don’t forget that.”

Jack smiled crookedly, rubbing his head: “Yeah. Thanks.”

“Somebody needs to slap you in the face sometimes, come back if you need another boot to the head as a reminder.”

“I hope I won’t need it anymore… I just don’t want to disappoint again.”

“You’re doing your best dude, nobody can hold that against you.”

But Jack really was not sure anymore what to think.

He had tried to tell Mark over and over again in the past what he wanted to do, but as he said, his other half never listened and nowadays even less than before, never taking him seriously. As if he was talking gibberish all the time. And now, being spliced gave them distance, for Jack an opportunity to actually figure out what he wanted without anybody telling him that he was wrong.

And now that he knew for sure, they had to find something to get closer again. Having to put their heads together once more and try to work everything out to get to that point.

Thinking back to what Samantha had said, it had sounded logical, listening to Wade made sense now, too. And combining the two advices, it was so hard to wrap his mind around them. He suddenly felt overwhelmed by so much information, closing his eyes and putting his hands over them.

Making sense of all the loose strings was giving him a headache.

“I’m sorry, Right Brain,” Wade then carefully called out, “I didn’t mean to make you upset. Did I slap you too hard?”

“No it’s…” he took a breath as he tried to smile, “It’s alright, Wade. You’re right, I just have to try some more, it will work out somehow!”

Regarding the other with a careful eye, Wade finally nodded once more, petting Jack’s shoulder slowly: “It’s going to be okay… There is always a way.”

And then they both snapped their heads up as the 3 girls cheered in delight, Spencer having his hands in the air and grinning around the apple that somehow had made it in. As both stepped closer Mark was just about to say that he was impressed, truthfully stating that he would never had thought it was possible. Spitting the apple out, and after a collective “Ew” was uttered, Spencer decided that he was actually really hungry and they all thought it was high time for lunch anyway. While settling down, Wade told the left side that he could use the laptop anytime, as he had put it in the mailbox.

And that is where the two went after lunch, for Right Brain still felt a bit bad for not asking Mark what he had actually wanted to do today.

Even though he had told himself he would put distance between them this morning, it was harder then he had thought. He had wanted to include the other in the game and it turned out perfectly for both of them. And maybe distance was good, but more in the sense of leaving each other space to do what they wanted in certain moments. And when stuff happened they could bond over that, just like both of his friends said.

Maybe he just had to balance things.

Balance them out so they can work it out in the long run.

Just after that thought he tripped over Bo’s doorsteps and bumped into Mark, who stood beside the mailbox and gave the other a puzzled look, Jack grinning sheepishly.

“Sorry…Got dizzy.” He looked over the other’s shoulder. “Got it?”

“Of course. Now, will you mind if I retreat back into the guest room?”

“No, not at all. Go ahead.”

There, he let him have space. That was good, now he could do the things he wanted to do, find more stuff Bo would enjoy.

But what?

“Left Brain? While you work, you know anything I could do?”

Mark hesitated at first, before he realised that they were home, then he answered: “Well. I’m not sure if you can be of help for me. So I suppose you find something to spend your time with on your own.”

“No leaving the house?”

“No. No leaving the house. You already ran about and made me look for you. If I count all the incidents together… today had been the 3rd time I was in search for you, and that is 3 times too many.” Mark rolled his eyes. “We established rules, but it seems they are not that effective.”

Jack had to chuckle at that: “Yeah, not really.”

“Then keep them as advice in mind, alright?”

“Alright…” replied the green head as he watched the other walk up the stairs, before suddenly remembering something, “Wait. Are you going to stay the rest of the day here? Until tomorrow?”

Mark stopped in his tracks once more as he looked down to the other: “Do you have something planned?”

“No. I just…”

Before he could say more, the other was shaking his head: “No, I won’t.”

At Jack’s astonished face he decided to elaborate.

“I assume with that question you are implying you want to go out again. And if I may remind you, you are in charge. So we leave if you say so. Just give me the word.”

That settled it and Jack let the other go, his heart hammering loudly. Probably Mark had decided that he would do the same as Jack had planned to do. Give him space but keeping a lookout for him. Maybe he really had listened to him, and had figured out all on his own what he was scraping together by asking others. With that thought Jack decided to give Mark as much time as possible, deciding that dinner time was a good time to get out again. Walking away from the stairs he decided to sit down on the couch, see if he could watch a movie of some kind to make time move faster while leaving Left Brain to his own devices.

And that was a bad idea.

Mark had mulled over a lot.

Over the few days he had gathered information just by analysing how he and Jack acted. Conscious and unconscious, how they spoke, how they carried their bodies, how they moved their hands, what they said and how they said it. Without any helping data he had tried to combine all the pieces he could on his own, sorting out what they meant. Moments and conversations, between each other and with others, he had them all saved, pouring them out and turning them around, picking them apart. Sighs escaped him here and there, as he finally leant back, the computer on his lap almost toppling over.

The laptop was not helping.

He had filtered through the rest of the codes in a careful manner, it had been a lot to digest, but it left him with more open questions then closed ones.

Yes, the computer was abandoned, yes it was somehow still working, curse the mechanics and engineers that came up with artificial intelligence, giving it a survival instinct, and yes, there had been many, many more people involved then he had liked. Yes, there were recordings that were corrupted, but no, he did not know why they were corrupted, no, he could not figure out what happened to the people and no, there was still no easy fix to their problem.

Infuriating.

This was infuriating.

The word alone made his stomach flop and he was trying to keep his hands at bay which were digging through his hair once more, the head-splitting pain of a migraine surfacing. Rolling over he let his head bury itself into the pillow, trying to think of something else, anything else, his mind swirling with thoughts and he bit his tongue.

His focus wandered over to Right Brain.

He had to say, Jack was not doing a bad job in leading them. He did get off track and yes, he did get distracted by everything and anything, but he was not killing them. Physically they were doing fine, socially they were doing fine as well. The village talked, but nothing malevolent, nothing serious, they were new, but that was all.

And still.

Again his stomach burned.

He could not place it, but his gut twisted at the memory of both of them trying to reason with Bo every single day, fighting. He still feels the stone whenever he thinks back to Bo getting into trouble because of Jack’s impulses. Him having to watch Bo wallow in self-pity or gather tears in his eyes or scream out in anger. And Jack was never doing anything productive, even if it was needed he did not act right, too brash, too wild.

Too emotional.

Much too unpredictable for Left Brain.

He curled his fists.

What was happening to him?

He could not specify what he was feeling but he was feeling something.

He could not feel.

He took his glasses off as he rubbed his hands over his eyes, trying to breathe, his lungs suddenly working harder than normal.

No, he could not feel, he did not feel, he thought and came to conclusions and did not act on emotions.

But.

There was a hole in his theory.

No, not a hole.

His whole theory was just wish thinking.

What Jack had said was true, Mark had taken control over Bo and that was, in terms of them being brains and having to cooperate, wrong. He had taken the wheel, he had taken over while Right Brain had been an observer. And that was wrong, he knew it was wrong. The consequences of his actions were here and he had to face them, he knew. He did not listen and that was wrong.

That was the reasons why the computer had split them apart, to rip the wheel out of their hands and to give each of them their own.

But there was more to it.

There was more to it.

God, fuck all of this.

Jack was doing fine alone.

Mark was doing fine alone.

They both were doing fine all alone.

Was it the computer? Was it them? Was it fate? Was it a cruel joke the world had set up to torment them?

Was it him?

He blinked tiredly, the headache pounding behind his eyes as he realized he had fallen asleep, smacking his mouth to get the horrible taste away. Having no clock in the room he had to look at the screen of the darkened laptop and realised that he had been caught up in his musings for pretty much the entirety of the afternoon. Not wanting to spend even more time on laying around he shook his head, forcefully standing up, only to black out for a minute, his whole world tilting. Then he felt a shiver and he closed the laptop, shuffling downstairs.

He already heard the tell-tale sound of the TV.

As he stepped in he was met with Jack laying on his back, upside down sprawled on the couch while watching Toy Story, the third one he presumed. The picture could only be described as ridiculous really, legs in the air, arms on the floor and he wondered how the other was not getting dizzy by the blood that was rushing into his head. But who was he to question his posture really, he had been sitting crouched over a screen himself, feeling his back pop suddenly as if to confirm his thoughts.

So instead he pointed with his thumb to the screen.

“Again?”

“The crying part is coming soon.”

“You mean the happy-end part where you cry your eyes out.”

“Yeah, that one.”

Mark let out a huff as he observed the other being fixated with the screen, showing emotions at every single movement. For a second he wanted to just turn around and leave the other to his TV time, not having or wanting to go outside. His head was filled with cotton and he felt sick to his stomach, but there was also the high possibility that the other would really have another hour of sobbing ahead of him, and he could not deal with that.

“Before you turn into a sad puddle, do you still want to leave the house?”

With that the other sprung to his feet, the thrill obvious in the others face and Mark had trouble deciding which was worse.

And while Jack had the time of his life, Mark was in the back, still wondering and observing, trying to keep his nausea at bay. Nothing seemed to help and he sat down on a bench as Jack was doing race after race with the children. At this point he did not mind anymore, he had gotten what he wanted, and it had not helped him at all. He had found himself in a dead-end and now he had to discern what the best next step was. He had to remind himself to give Wade the laptop back after he had cleaned it up as well.

That he could work with such lag was beyond him.

He was so deep in his own musings that he had not even noticed Jack sitting down beside him, before the other spoke up: “They all had to go, it’s gotten late.”

“Pity.”

“Yeah, but it’s okay! There are other days!” Jack smiled, before he looked down at his hands, another paper boat being folded, “Those kids were so nice! They even gave me some of their paper! Don’t you think they were nice, Left Brain?”

Mark sighed softly: “Yeah sure.”

That made Jack perk up however as he looked at the other with an unreadable expression, his folding ceasing before stopping the whole way. For a moment he had to note the slouched position the other was in, hand on his chin and elbow on the wooden perch of the bench. His eyes did not focus anywhere in particular, and that was something he had never seen the other do before. He was always watching, always aware, hyper focused on a thing he picked up.

Nothing, just an empty stare and Jack tilted his head.

“You sound tired, Lef-…” And he caught himself, them being outside and the disassociated look that the other gave, worrying him. “Mark! It’s still Mark.”

Left Brain on the other hand sunk in even more: “Because I am.”

“Oh…” Jack hesitated, knowing the other would usually deny any assumptions he made on his part, sitting a bit straighter, “Are you okay? Why are you tired?”

He could have told him what he was thinking.

He could have said that he was at his wits end, could have started explaining how there were files that showed reports of failures, that there was a chance that they would end up in the same spot. That the longer they were separated, the more they were losing control over the situation, that he was losing control over the situation. He could have told him about the questions that were circling around his mind.

Why did he change into the metric system if he had been focused?

Why had Jack realized that Nina was missing her bow hair clip, such a small detail?

Why had he not thought his action through as he let Jack in charge, out of impulse?

Why had Jack been able to argue back at him on the square? In the forest?

The reason the computer was abandoned could not just be a mistake, it had been abandoned for a reason and going there had done more harm than good. Far more harm than good.

He could have told him.

He could have been honest.

But his mouth was dry as he settled on saying: “Just worrying.”

At that Jack almost gave a relived smile: “Then you’re good, right? You’re always worrying!”

Mark started to glare at the pavement, the words harsh: “Yeah sure…”

“Then I’m glad!”

For Jack the issue was resolved, but Mark gritted his teeth.

He was not worrying, he could not worry, why had he even mentioned it?

He was NOT worrying.

“But yeah!” Jack continued good-naturedly, looking down at his new creation, “We had lots of fun today, don’t ya think? Much more fun than yesterday!” He looked thoughtfully up, taking note of the sky. “Maybe we can-…”

Mark interrupted him.

“Why aren’t you worried?”

“Huh?”

Jack had to snap his head back at the other and he was met with a cold gaze, freezing his good mood into solid ice.

“You heard me,” Mark set out to ask again, “With every passing hour we lose it will be harder for us to combine again. Why aren’t you worried?”

“Well, we’re fixing that right now!” Right Brain provided, his voice being trusting and confident, before it fell, “Aren’t we?”

Were they?

Were they fixing things?

“Of course!” Mark suddenly shot his arms up without a warning into the air, before he clamped them around his knees, a sarcastic hiss leaving him. “Paper boats will make everything alright!”

“Why are you all angry now?!” Jack then barked back, protectively holding the paper away from the other, his eyes roaming as if he could find the answer written on Mark’s flannel.

But Left Brain lost all bite just as sudden as it had come, his shoulders sagging once more, before Jack could detect the smallest tremble going through the other. Jack’s eyes widened as Mark lifted his hands, those trembling even harder. Mark himself did not know how to answer either, his thoughts suddenly jumbled up and confusing to him.

He was not angry, he could not be angry.

They were fixing things.

But at what cost?

Finally Mark rasped out an answer, swallowing down his next words.

“I just… I miss him.”

He had to shake his head as he then clamped his fingers to his face, burying himself in them. His glasses were somewhere in his hair, but he cared less as his fingers dug into skin, eyes pressing closed, another heavy sigh leaving him.

“It’s not logical for us to be like this…”

And Jack could only watch as the other sat there, trying to hold himself together, own mind blank. The green head had never seen the other act like this and he was pretty sure that words of encouragement would not help.

So he did the next best thing.

As he leant against the other he could feel no move from Mark to shoo him away, so he put more weight into it. He was not hugging him, for he did not know how the other would react, keeping his arms in his lap. However the back of his head found itself a place between Mark’s neck and shoulder, and he settled there, his face one of empathy. Then they just were for a while, Jack staring at the lake, sensing how the other got calmer, before he mumbled gingerly:

“Yeah… sucks.”


	16. A Storm, A Nightmare And A Toy

The walk back home was silent.

Mark had only after a long while shrugged the other off, shaking out his shoulders and his gaze back to its calculating stare, and Jack was honestly glad to see it. As soon as he was back, they stood up, prepared to leave for home, not mentioning the incident or even acknowledging that it had ever happened.

Right Brain was grateful, for he would not have known what to do elsewise besides giving silent support.

And at this point Mark did not seem to want to talk and Jack was too tired to ask.

Both of them were too tired to care really and it got more and more apparent as dizziness hit the green head with full force. Staggering, Mark looked down at the other, who was rubbing his eyes furiously, a yawn escaping him while he tripped. Jack was trying to pull his feet along before Mark held him by the arm so he would not fall off the border towards the street.

“Careful,” he pointed out, dragging Right Brain closer to him, “Since when have you been awake?”

Jack had to think.

“Did you even go to sleep?”

Jack shook his head and Mark slapped his hand to his own face, dragging it down in exasperation. Deciding that this would not do, he proposed to get to the next bus station to wait for one that would bring them closer to home. Right Brain nodded in agreement, still trying to rub his eyes as they both made their way through the park, the silence interrupted by laughter and screams from the villagers, enjoying their Sunday. Jack had to say he had enjoyed it as well, so he took the sudden sleepiness in for the stride, glad he had been able to drag Mark a smile out and spend the day with him.

Forcing down another yawn they had made it to the bus station and were leaning against the railing, waiting patiently. Time ticked away slowly, the church tower ringing a few times as it echoed around into the night. Looking up at the sky, clouds gathered fast, the mountains hoarding them like a dragon did gold. The more they piled up the darker they got, the tower of white rising higher and higher, only then to spread out like a dense blanket, the fog that settled eerily hanging around them. Watching as the black of night swirled with grey, embracing the village, Jack sighed.

“Left Brain, I’m tired,” he then forced out, his hand moving to the top of his head, regretting having been up so long.

And even though he had moved Mark into the right direction, the other had not changed a bit.

“Well, suck it up. We have to get back by bus now thanks to you. You should have known what happens when you don’t sleep enough.”

Jack had to huff: “You really are a prick…”

“And you are an idiot,” Mark retorted, “You wanted to go out this evening, remember? It’s your fault we’re stuck at the bus station.” His eyes wandered over to the village, the orange lights blinding him as he continued. “Listening to you always ends up in trouble and, oh wonder! Here we are.” He lifted his hand, sticking out his little finger. “In trouble.” His ring finger. “Waiting.” And finally his middle finger. “Sleepless.”

The words did not have the analysing tone to them as usual, they were more of a hiss. If Jack had known better he would have maybe picked up on it, the pressed sound of his voice ringing a bell, but for him it was just banter. Mean banter that was killing his head to give a proper answer back to.

“You…” he yawned, his hands trying to stifle it and failing, “…are an asshole…”

Mark just glanced from his position to the other with a side glance, before he rolled his eyes. Then he looked around, noticing the other swaying and deciding they could not keep standing.

“…Okay you whiny brat,” he then called out, hand on Jack’s shoulders and pushing him slowly in front of him, “Let’s find a bench so you can lay down.” Then he took Jack’s hands and took them in his own. “And stop scratching at your eyes, the burning will only get worse.”

Jack was too tired to argue, but he nodded along as Mark pushed him down, seating himself as he leant back, eyes closed. For a moment he just took in the noises around him, the people slowly getting quieter and his mind went to the forest and the stream that was gurgling away. He heard the leaves move and could feel the breeze picking up. The cold of the season came closer and closer, he could feel it and he curled his arms around himself to keep in some warmth. He still was annoyed about the fact that he was wearing a shirt but he could not raid Bo’s wardrobe, that would be just plain stealing and he did not want to do that.

The sky grumbled as if agreeing with him and Jack slipped his eyes open to access the situation. Before he could say it out loud, the sky darkened massively and rain started to trickle down. First it were a few drops, then more and because of the fact that there was no shelter anyway and because he was too lethargic to move, they stayed.

“It could be worse.”

“Shut your mouth.”

The rain was freezing cold, but he did not mind it as he was too busy with frowning at the other.

“It actually could be worse.”

But Mark kept quiet so the talk died out, Jack facing the sky and let the rain run down his face. Feeling more awake then before he leant forward and regarded the puddle that build itself in front of him and he grinned. Sticking a finger into it, the waves rippled and he wondered how far the puddles would go as he looked at the street with a curious stare. While he did so, Mark watched him, his hair already flopping down, not really up to moving himself.

Watching the other play with the water was really not the worst in the world.

Or maybe he should not have thought so fast, as he watched Jack spring up and splash into the nearest puddle, a giggle leaving him as he did so. Mark was just out of range, but he had to shake his head as he observed how Jack jumped from one place to the other, crouching unnecessarily close to the ground before using the force to catapult himself a few feet further.

“I thought you were tired.”

“Not anymore!”

“Of course.”

And Mark accepted that reasoning, they were waiting anyway, so watching something happen was better then sit in the rain and do nothing. Jack seemed to have boundless energy and he did not let up splashing water to every side possible, laughing all the way through it. Mark almost forced himself to snap his head up as he realised that the bus was coming and he took Jack by the arm so he would not get run over.

He would never let him be run over.

He had not been serious back then.

Shaking themselves off, they took a seat, wringing their shirts and hair from the excess water. A few others were sitting nearby, but most of them either having fallen asleep and driving in circles or focused on their phones, writing their loved ones that they were about to come home. Jack had sat down as soon as he saw a free seat, while Mark kept standing, too wet to feel comfortable sitting.

The drive itself would not be too long and Jack took the paper the children gave him out of his pockets, rummaging for a pen in his pockets. Spending time in the bus was always a perfect opportunity to write and Bo did enjoy doing it. Today Right Brain had a different idea however as he looked up at Mark, who was following the road outside the window on the other side of the bus. He was not deep in thought, but Jack’s poke in the arm had no effect.

“Left Brain?”

The name made him cringe however, Mark looking down at the other with an eyebrow risen. He was just about to remind Jack that they were not in the safe zone, but stopped as he saw the grin.

“Left Brain! Look!” holding the paper up, he handed it to his other half, continuing with a small grin, “I drew us!”

Mark had to take a double take as he was staring at a small drawing of Bo. It was not the best drawing he had ever seen, crooked, wobbly. Bo had never been much of a pencil artist but there was some small talent buried there. At first something sour rose in him but then it dissolved just as quickly and he felt his face relax. Then he blinked down at the other and, without noticing it, smiled warmly.

“You did,” he approved, nodding, “It’s pretty accurate actually.”

Jack on the other hand glowed: “Ya really think so?”

Another nod as Mark wanted to hand the paper back, only for Jack to push it into Mark’s direction once more.

“It’s yours now!”

“Are you sure?”

Right Brain was completely sure and Mark stole another glance at it, before tucking it away into his flannel, not bothering with the weirdly loud beating of his heart. Instead he pointed out that they were back, the rain having lessened so much that they could reach the door without getting soaked to the bone a second time. Still, their clothes were damp and they needed to warm up. Jack was still absolutely against using Bo’s cloths, so instead the first thing he did was put his things into the washing machine before using the shower. Then he waited patiently to come for it out of the dryer and putting it on once more, not caring that Mark was shaking his head, presumably annoyed with him for losing another hour.

And then came the moment Jack had feared.

Closing the door behind him he forced his eyes to roam the room.

Everything was still the same and he could not bring himself to lay down in the bed, there was just no way. He could always go back down and sleep on the couch, but if he went now, Mark would surely hear and shoo him back up to get proper rest. His heart beat faster the closer he got to the middle of the room, so he just pressed his back to the door, the window showing the storm that was raging outside.

Jack suddenly felt very, very small.

Just like the first night he felt fear bubble up in him, no matter how much he told himself that there was nothing to feel so troubled by. It was a room, nothing else. Just a room where he did not belong in and where everything felt like it was going to crush him.

He could not help himself as he forced himself to sit down, trying to mute his thoughts. That is why he had not slept last night either, knowing if he had, he would have needed to be here, and he had wanted to avoid that. Still he was back besides his best efforts and he swallowed hard. Curling up on the carpet, his vison blackening and his breath evening out, he tried to force himself into tiredness. The fuzz was good enough for him, the day had been long and the small headache was not helping anyway. The storm was banging the glass, pelting it with water drops, the noise relaxing him slowly, lulling him further and he sighed out.

He just had to black out.

That was all, just fall asleep and wake up when morning came.

Then he started feeling cold.

His mind wandered to the warmer living room, not caring if Mark would call him out in the morning, so he tried to follow with his body, trying to stand up and failing. Next he tried to open his eyes but everything was pitch black, a confused huff leaving him. He was not sure if it was because they were actually still closed or if the room had just been cloaked in darkness, but he could not make sense of his surroundings. He felt like he was already standing, pushing against a wall, his arms trembling as he tried to force himself away.

Panic set in as he realized he could not move.

For a moment he tried to think, to rationalize, but that was soon lost and gone, his heart almost beating out of his chest as the darkness seemed to move, Jack finally detaching himself from the wall, which started to send static shocks into his arms. The air was cold, bordering on freezing, and he blinked his eyes open, realising they had indeed been closed the whole time.

The static he had felt manifested into a quivering wall before his eyes and he followed the movements with a numb understanding as pieces of the facade started to crumble.

Jack tried to back away from it but the quacking was everywhere, squares over squares separating from the wall and circling around him. Flashes of blue, red and white popped up here and there and filling the stale air with electricity. His hair stood up, and he was unsure if it was because of his fear or the air itself before he noticed that the tremors started to heighten in intensity. It was as if the pieces of the wall were clipping into each other, a square that had been there, suddenly vanishing, only then to pop up somewhere else. As he watched they got faster as well, and they seemed to get closer as he held his breath, noise filling his ears with the movement. The faster they got, the louder the noise, as if nails were scratching over a blackboard, multiplying.

It was deafening.

Pushing his hands to his ears he tried to block it out, squeezing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth, almost to the point he was scared to break them. The static feeling went into his limbs once more, his heart giving out for a second.

Then a white flash appeared and Jack jumped up, banging his head against the door of Bo’s room.

He was breathing hard, high pitched, a whistle leaving his mouth, before realising that he was crying. Putting a hand to his face he could feel the wet streaks and he swallowed dryly, not being able to make sense of the dream he had.

Nightmare.

It had just been a nightmare but still Jack flinched hard as the lightning outside crashed in at the same time as the thunder roared. Trying to move, he grabbed blindly up for the doorknob, his back still pressed against the frame, before he took a hold of it. Then with all the strength he could muster he lifted his wobbling legs into standing, opening the door and falling through it, kicking the wood back into its place as if trying to keep a monster in that had been trying to tear him apart.

Then he sat there, staring at the door blankly.

There were still tears in his eyes, but more out of shock then fear. He did not know what that was all about but he sure did not have the wish to get back there anytime soon.

Or ever.

He took another gulp of air, before he inched further away, finally able to get back on his feet. Another look downstairs told him it was 2 in the morning and he felt as if he had just been run over by a truck. He mused the good thing was that Mark was sleeping and did not hear him freaking out, so he could catch some sleep downstairs.

Then he glanced to Mark’s door and he realised that the light was on.

For a moment he could not quite believe it for on one hand he was sure that if Left Brain was awake he would have heard him and stormed out to see what the commotion was about. On the other hand if Mark was asleep, then he would not have kept the light on, because that was, how Left Brain had put it, a terrible waste of energy. Jack knew that he seemed to care about that for he had told him back with the children in the café to keep track of the TV and not let it run the next time when leaving.

Or how he always plugged everything out Jack noticed now, as he underlined his thoughts of Mark leaving the light on as very uncharacteristically for him.

With good reason, too, he guessed.

Blinking slowly he stepped closer, worry eating at him, knocking with his knuckles against the door, hoping to hear something from the other side.

Nothing.

Then he tried again, this time calling softly out, his knock a tiny bit louder.

“Mark…?”

Again no response and Jack slumped his shoulders as he observed the light streaks that sneaked out from under the closed door a second time. He knew there were two options why the one on the other side was not responding. Either he had really forgotten to turn it off and had actually fallen asleep, or, which was far worse, he was awake and was consequently ignoring him.

But Jack had to make sure that he was alright.

So a bit of courage flooded his veins then and there, as he took a deep breath, closed his eyes and inched his hand to the door knob, turning it as slowly and silently as possible. He sighed in small relief as he realised that it was not locked, pushing the door a bit more from him and poking his head through the gap.

He had to note that his second assumption had been right: Mark was awake.

He was sitting on the bed, facing the other direction so Jack could only see his back, but that had been already enough. Maybe he really had not heard him and he really did not want to disturb him at this time of early day. Mark still was not aware of his presence yet as well so the green head was about to leave, just as quietly as he head come, wanting to lay himself on the couch and maybe watch something to let his mind wander off, before he noticed a sound in the room.

He stopped to a halt then and he roamed the place with his eyes as his ears picked up the noise. It could have been mistaken as the ticking of a clock, but Jack knew that this room had no clocks, Bo never had clocks in the bedrooms so that was not an option.

The more he listened he realised that the clicks were not even regular or had any particular order. It just went click-click, faster and then slower, only then to pick up again. Even if he had only the right brain of the two, he knew that could not be. He narrowed his eyes, finally pin-pointing the sound to the figure sitting on the bed and he sneaked closer, curiosity gripping his mind.

As he then leant forward he could finally see what it was.

“Oh! A Rubik’s cube!”

The sudden exclamation ripped the half-silence apart and Mark jumped up in shock from the bed to his feet, the toy flying from his hands to the ground, all of that accompanied with a high shriek. Jack flinched a bit and was already brewing together which profanities the other would hurl at him, prepared to dash out of the door again, as Mark turned to him in a startled manner, hands up in fists. Both of them stood like that for a few seconds longer, staring at each other, before Mark opened his mouth.

“Can’t sleep either?”

“…H-Huh?”

“I said: Can’t sleep either?”

Jack needed a second to process that Mark was asking him an honest question, so he nodded hesitantly, before he let his eyes drift off to the plastic cube that had landed close to his feet. He picked it silently up and stared at it, noticing that it was almost finished, only a few plates in their wrong place. Bo himself had never been able to solve one, but he loved to turn and turn it in circles, the sound and the mindless hand movements calming him down, forgetting the rest of the world around him.

Jack glanced up again as he noticed Mark still standing there, eyes fixed on the multi-coloured toy, and he stretched his arm, mumbling a bit sheepishly: “Sorry for startling ya… I didn’t mean to.”

Mark shook his head a bit and shrugged then: “It’s quite alright. I was almost done anyway.”

“Oh. So you’ve been playing with it for a while?”

“Pretty much the whole night.”

“It’s almost mornin’.”

“That is what “Pretty much the whole night” implicates.”

Both fell silent.

“I didn’t know ya like playing with toys.”

“It keeps my spatial reasoning skills sharp.”

“But you’re Left Brain.”

“And you are a Right Brain.”

“Hm.”

Jack let his eyes fall back to the toy as he leaned his head a bit to the side, rotating the cube and letting the click resonate in the room. For a second Jack smiled, as he switched it back into its earlier position, before he heard Mark stepping closer.

“Do you want to give it a try?”

“What?”

Mark pointed to the cube still resting in Jack’s hands: “You can try it. If you want, that is.”

“Really?”

“I don’t see why not.”

Jack smiled a second time upon hearing that, as both of them sat down on the bed, Jack already trying to figure out which way to turn it. The longer he thought and tried, tongue sticking out, the more amusement showed on Mark’s face, watching him with a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“You’re doing terrible.”

Jack just glanced at him side-ways before he let out a small laugh, broadly grinning and responding with an enthusiastic: “I know!” before trying once more. The longer he sat there, the more the wish settled to solve it and his face turned from playful to pure determination, his head trying to make sense of his movements. Mark watched carefully, not making a sound as he took the face of the other as reason to let him try on his own.

“Why are you awake at this early hour?”

Jack was preoccupied so he answered honestly: “Nightmare. Very weird.”

“I see.”

The tone of the voice made Jack’s movements slow, his arms resting on his lap, before he hummed thoughtfully. He wondered if he should tell Left Brain about it, the dream did unsettle him and if he told him about it Left Brain would maybe reassure him. But knowing the other, he would ignore it anyway, brushing it away as a freaky thought that lingered too long for no reason.

It was not important.

“So you really like the cube?” he prodded instead, “You did say you were on it the whole night.”

“I was actually just thinking, I didn’t really try.”

Then why would Left Brain even bother with picking it up?

Jack had trouble remembering the last time Bo had even acknowledged the Rubik’s cube, the small thing having collected dust over the time span sitting on the desk. It could have been years, he was unsure, and it was frustrating to boot. It was late, or early, and Mark was always thinking anyway.

He did say it kept some kind of skill sharp when he moved the cube, but he never does two things at the same time, he always only focuses on one, so something did not fit.

Jack was the one that loved to fold paper, moving his hands to calm down, while Mark was the one who forced to keep them still. He was not even able to walk and think at the same time. The last few days were an obvious indicator, every single time he had been lost in his musings he was like a stone pillar, Jack waving his hand in front of his face to make him come back to the present.

Either Mark had thought about something or he had solved the cube, not both at the same time.

So Right Brain mentioned bluntly: “That’s unusual for you.” He tilted his head upwards. “Did you really do both?”

“Why the question?”

“Just curious,” Jack shrugged, blinking down and noticing all of his Rubik’s sides being jumbled in different colours, having effectively destroyed Mark’s progress, “Dammit…”

The read head kept quiet, while Jack continued in hopes of salvaging what was left of the cube’s sides. While he was deep in thought, wondering if he had already rotated the cube the same way before, Mark was silent, probably tuning out the clicks and clacks of the toy and solving it in his mind. Jack felt acutely aware that the other was staring at him, observing his movements and a hint of determination filled him, knowing this was his chance to show the other that he was to be taken serious. And as time stretched on with Mark staring, Jack noting it under the impression that he was judging him, his hand movements became more precise, trying to stay calm.

He was not really getting anywhere but at least he was focusing, like he had promised himself he would.

Jack had almost forgotten where he was, as Mark had waved his hand in a dismissive manner, Jack jumping at the motion.

“It’s just a small toy. Moving the pieces into place was not interfering with my thought process.” He shrugged once again, “I saw it and thought it was a waste to leave it unfinished so I switched between the two actions.”

There he had his stamp of approval, Mark was just that smart.

“I see,” Jack then repeated Mark from before, taking a second to stare at the cube with a sour face, before trying once more, tongue sticking out, “This is actually really fun, ya know? Frustrating and hard, but fun.”

“You can keep it.”

Jack’s eyes snapped up to the other, not fully believing what he had heard, while Mark nodded in confirmation.

“It seems as if you are enjoying yourself.” He pointed to Jack’s head, then tipped once against the green head’s temple. “It is either worth remembering the rotating rules or to find the patterns out yourself like I did. Both options are possible.”

Jack chuckled as he swatted the hand away, before grinning brightly: “I’ll try to! Now I really want to solve it.”

Mark shook his head in reply as he sighed, not having the heart to send the other away. Soon enough Jack was making himself comfortable, tugging his legs up and sitting cross-legged while Mark leant forward, his hand resting on his chin, elbow on his knee. And as Jack started his trial and error mission, Mark watched with his eyes half closed, not saying a single word.


	17. The Most Painful Word

Each brain half woke up with equal amounts of groans, disapproval clearly detectable from both of them.

Somehow they had fallen asleep in the guestroom without realizing it, Jack still holding an unfinished Rubik’s cube in his hands, laying on his side while Mark was beside him on his back. At first they tried to get more sleep, but the morning sun ran across their faces and hindered them in doing so. The first to peel himself away was Mark as he regarded the other, who pressed the toy against his chest and mumbled something about 5 more minutes, Left Brain deciding to leave the sleepyhead be.

Downstairs, the red head stared at the clock and noting it pointing at 10 am. Not early, but not too late, so he shrugged his shoulders, already plugging in the coffee machine and pouring fresh water. Just as he got his cup ready, Jack had made it into the dining room, seating himself as he slumped over and pressed his forehead against the table with a sigh.

Mark let the other be a second time as he went to retrieve the newspaper that a drone dropped to his feet, before suddenly something buzzed beside him in the hallway.

Picking up the phone, he read Bob’s text about the laptop being fixed, something he would have completely forgotten about at this point and he informed Jack that they should maybe walk over as soon as possible. Jack just nodded softly, still head against the wood, before crossing his arms on top of the table, his cheek pressing on top of them.

It was quiet between them.

Mark was starting to skim through the news, the new week starting unspectacular. Nothing new had been invented, not that they were trying incredibly hard at this point anymore really, and nothing around the world happened that had not been happening last week either. Storms were raging, species were dying, sport players were pushed into other teams, the normal shtick was going on as ever.

How incredible it was that they had found themselves in such a situation and the whole world turned and turned as if it was nothing.

Nothing to the world maybe, but clearly to them.

Which made Mark realize that they had been sitting in silence for a very long time now and he peeked over the edge of the paper, watching Jack with a critical eye. He still had not moved, eyes half lidded, head on top of his arms, still slouched over the table as if he was about to drop off. In the dim kitchen, the lamp on the ceiling only lighting the place up to some degree, heavy shadows seemed to creep up on the green head, his face empty. He seemed absolutely exhausted, lost in thought, and realizing the talk they had, Jack must have been shaken by the nightmare he had. And considering everything else, Mark was really not used to sit in silence with the other.

So he offered the only thing he could think of.

“You want some coffee?”

Jack did not seem to hear him at first, as if the words had to fight through fog, before he lifted his head slowly, eyes roaming the other with a confused expression. Then he finally blinked, his mouth opening with effort.

“What?”

“I asked if you want coffee.”

The green head shook his head softly, before he said: “I know, but you never offered me that before.”

Mark let his newspaper drop as he answered: “Because it makes you hyper.”

Or at least Bo got easily hyper with coffee. And if Mark was keeping it in well, then Jack would probably jump off the walls. But the more he observed the other the less he was certain of his statement.

“But today you look like you need one.”

Jack kept quiet as he crossed his arms once more, eyes averted as he seemed to mull something over. Left Brain patiently waited for the other to say something, to maybe take the offer or to deny it, but nothing came but the glazed look, staring off into the corner of the room.

“You don’t really act like yourself,” Mark then provided helpfully, trying to coax Right Brain into explaining himself, “Is something wrong?”

And it seemed to work.

Closing his eyes, Jack let out a breath through his nose, his chest rattling, before he set his head into his hand, elbow on the table as he still was avoiding eye contact. He seemed to work the words out, before he let them tumble.

“I don’t know what to tell ya… I woke up this morning` and already everything sucked,” he sighed, “I don’t know why though.”

And Mark could not help himself as he sighed a bit as well, for the fact that he knew exactly what the other meant. But knowing and feeling were different things he had learned to accept and the only thing was to provide the reasons the other was not getting.

“It’s Monday, Jack. Three days have already gone by.” He pulled the cup closer, as he clamped his fingers around the porcelain. “We missed work.” Another breath, as he swallowed the bail that came up to his throat, “It’s no wonder we feel miserable.”

While he regarded the liquid still sloshing around, the warmth drifting into the air and curling around in tiny swirls, Jack curled into himself, letting the words settle.

Monday.

Three actual days.

And Bo was missing work today, something he would get punished for surely.

They had been separated for three days and somehow it seemed as if everything had changed and at the same time nothing.

“Makes sense…”

Of course it made sense and he just wanted to put his head back onto the table and forget about everything. The whole situation was taking a toll on him. Right now he could have buried himself a hole and been laying there without ever having to move again, just letting the world pass by while he ignored it. But hearing Mark peep up again he had to say he was glad he was not absolutely alone in this endeavour, as he saw the other push his cup into Jack’s direction. First his stare was fixated on the white mug, before he looked up and saw the tiniest smile on Left Brain, a sideway smirk at most but still something.

“That is why you should take it,” he explained once more, “One pessimist is enough, don’t you agree?”

Right Brain chuckled.

“You will regret this in 5 minutes,” Jack then replied with a strained smile of his own, gratefully cupping his hands around the ceramic, while the other shrugged.

“I’ll take my chances.”

So they settled, Mark back to reading while Jack sipped, the first hours of morning hazy.

And then Left Brain regretted his decision immediately.

Like so often.

After Jack had drained his coffee he was a bouncing ball of energy. Nothing could stop him as he ran up and down the stairs, jumping on and over the couch, playing parkour in the most ridiculous and hilarious way Left Brain had ever seen. He could not even start to comprehend how his other half had made it on the ceiling lamp, dangling there, or how he had managed to squeeze himself under the guestroom bed and then to rob his way out of it, only then to vanish in one of the wardrobes.

As Mark had stepped closer, for it was incredibly quiet in there, Jack had torn it open, loudly screaming: “I WAS HERE ALL ALONG!” before dashing away into another corner of the house, Mark actually interested in what kind of shenanigans the other would manoeuvre himself.

But at the same time they did have to get the laptop, not really because they needed it anymore, but more because Bob had taken the time to repair it and letting him wait was incredibly rude.

So, Mark did everything in his power to calm the other down, failing for at least half an hour, coaxing the other out of various other hiding places only to be pushed aside and starting the fast paced version of hide and seek once more. At some point he had really lost track of the other and was pacing around, looking everywhere and coming up empty. Just as he was about to call out to Jack, he heard the tell-tale sound of feet tapping, coming closer. Mark wanted to turn around, but he was tackled from behind and fell in a heap to the floor, the breath knocked out of both of them. Then Mark huffed, trying to get the other from him, while Jack roared with giggles, falling to the side and tears of euphoria leaking from him.

“Yes…” Mark then mumbled, still on the floor, remembering Jack’s words and putting his hand over his eyes, his glasses somewhere lost beside him, “Absolute regret.”

And even though Jack was still energetic, he had calmed enough to the point where he ran circles around Mark while walking towards the electric shop, sometimes blissfully jumping ahead, only to return as soon as he saw Mark as tiny speck on the horizon. But Left Brain ignored it, following Jack’s path, correcting it here and there while the green head stopped at random and pointed things out which he deemed important.

Which was everything.

And still, Mark did not mind, it was good to see the other so positive after the gloomy introduction of the day, even though it was starting to get bothersome. Bothersome in the sense of Jack losing focus and walking into certain things, like trash cans, lamps, trees, robots and other various people, Mark making sure he did not get hurt each time with a frown. Luckily Wade was one of them and Mark decided if Jack really wanted to spend more time to run around he could settle here and tell him about their morning and his findings yesterday.

“It looks like Jack is really… happy today,” Wade then provided, not really knowing what else to say, for the data Mark had been looking for was not really a theme he wanted to get into, “You are actually letting him go around and have fun.”

“I gave him coffee.”

“Oh my fucking god.”

“Well,” Mark elaborated, “He needed it and considering what we both have been through at this point I suppose it’s fine to let him off the leash. At least he’s heading my advice and doesn’t get out of my sight that often.”

“So you’re working it out together!” Wade grinned, “That’s amazing to hear, you know? At the beginning you two wouldn’t even look at each other without arguing.”

“It seems so. I just wish he would stop walking into lamp posts and other various objects. I tell you, one of these days he’s going to give me a heart attack.”

“Well, he’s old enough to take care of himself, isn’t he? He’s 27, you know.”

The look Mark gave him made Wade chuckle, before he shrugged.

“So, nothing else is new huh?”

Mark took a breath as he had to shake his head, eyes visibly dimming.

And Wade felt the tug in his heart as he saw a change in the other from the days prior, more tired, more helpless, and he lifted his hand, hovering slightly with it. Then he petted Mark on the shoulder, trying to cheer him up but not really knowing how. Jack was easy to please, a few nice words were always appreciated by him. But Mark was different, he needed solutions and facts, which no one had at the moment.

The situation was still unpredictable.

“It will be okay, Mark,” he then decided to say, “Things always work out somehow.”

The other seemed to wilt more, the opposite of what Wade had wanted, and he sighed, keeping his hand on the other to give him something to anchor to. As he had predicted, Mark needed facts, not just nice words.

But all the facts Wade had would just worsen everything.

Mark had his reasons for acting the way he did, both brain halves did, and Wade was just realizing now what kind of troubles they were dealing with. He had noticed that the façade was breaking away, that things were changing, and he had trouble addressing them. Especially now that Left Brain seemed at his weakest it would be cruel.

But if everything was already terrible, you could not dig deeper then you already had.

If you hit bedrock, then the only thing that was stopping you from climbing up again was your fear of falling. Mulling your thoughts over and over again until you could not bear listening to them anymore.

However, if Wade told Mark his thoughts, he would get out of his mind space and would have at least something else to chew around then get lost in the sea of his own mind.

It was important and it was better to kick him in the shins sooner than later.

“You know, I was talking to Jack yesterday and he told me about what you two did.”

Mark closed his eyes: “I presume he mentioned the disagreement?”

“Barely. Just saying that you had one but he didn’t really say more about it,” Wade reassured slowly, “He did mention you smiling however.”

“What?”

“Yeah, he was all excited about it, you should have seen him.” He leant a bit forward, “And, by the way? You gotta show me, too. I need to see that with my own two eyes.”

Mark rolled his eyes in reply, as he mumbled: “Personal space, please.”

“I feel wounded, I thought I’m your friend.”

That involuntarily made the red head smirk, before he wiped it off from his face, shaking his head. While he was busy narrowing his eyes, losing himself in his own thoughts, Wade decided to continue.

“Well, besides that he talked mostly about Bo.”

Mark had to tilt his head, waiting for Wade to explain himself, for he clearly could hear that he was trying to lead the conversation into a direction, his brows furrowing at the distance in the voice.

“You know I know Bo well, Mark.” Wade had to already stop as he swallowed. “Or I thought I know him really well. I know for sure that he’s the funny, joking around kind of person. That he had been for years, even back in Kindergarten. He had never hesitated to do some stupid prank to make us all laugh.”

He paused once more as he picked his words carefully.

“Yesterday Jack told me how you have put him into the position of control. Something you have not done in a long while. A really, really long while. And Bo had been very distant over the years. He had been distant and all the passion he had just drained from him.”

He could feel Mark tense under his fingers, but he was not finished yet.

“I’m not one to say what people should do, Mark. All I can say is what I see with my own two eyes, because I don’t know any better. And seeing Jack how he acts and how he jumps at every chance of living without a second of hesitation… from what I get, I kind of …-”

And he stopped, mouth snapping shut.

Marks hands were curling up, his posture stiff as if he did not dare move, and Wade blinked as the red head seemed to grit his teeth. The change in demeanour was maybe not unforeseen but it surely was surreal. Jack had told him he had seen him angry and smiling, but seeing it for himself was another thing entirely. And he almost felt the need to back away, but somehow still kept his ground, for he was, to his credit, more fascinated about it then put off.

“I know,” Left Brain then finally pressed out, “I know that, Wade.”

“Look, Mark… What is life about if you’re not feeling alive? Past is past. You might not trust Jack with him, because he’s the way he is, but he is definitely trying his best. He is just… a bit over the top, and you are very reclusive. And he tries to learn from mistakes, is trying to prove himself to you. You know that, don’t you?”

Left Brain could not answer to that and so he just stood there, trying to make sense of why he could not concentrate and give a proper answer, getting more and more frustrated over it. He was shaking and Wade’s hand, that was still perched on his shoulder, was not helping the slightest bit, his body burning and not knowing why. The wish to push the other away was getting bigger and with less and less restraint he was this close to doing it.

“It’s okay, Mark. Getting angry is a good thing.”

And that made Left Brain forcibly bite his anger back, his hands relaxing as well as his face, the shaking stilling almost immediately.

“It’s not. I’m not angry.”

“You…”

“I can’t get angry, Wade.”

The force in which he said it made Wade pull his hand away and he lifted both of them soothingly: “Okay, got it.”

Then they stood awkwardly there, Mark repeating the words Wade had uttered in his mind and forcing them out again, not wanting to believe them. Wade on the other hand decided that he had poked around enough, knowing Left Brain would have to come to terms with his problems at some point.

He could not be in denial his whole life.

“Another thing.”

Mark blinked as Wade shrugged, ignoring the last few minutes they just had in favour of making sure the other listened to him. Even if he would let the red head brew over their conversation, he needed to get one last thing out, the most important thing he thought to himself. That is why he stared up to him, grey eyes drilling through Left Brain with a face of seriousness Mark was not used to.

“There is something I think you still need to know, because I’m not sure if you really do.” He pointed over his shoulder to Right Brain, who was busy talking to one of the stand owners. “Jack… thinks incredibly highly of you, Mark.”

Opening his mouth to respond, Wade shook his head at Left Brain, stopping him in his tracks.

“More highly of you then himself.”

Flinching, Mark blinked, mouth still opening but nothing coming out.

And Wade nodded, knowing that the other had understood as he retreated, waving behind and over his shoulder as he left: “Just keep that in mind.”

Standing still, Mark watched as the other disappeared behind the house walls, his heart hammering and tongue tied in knots. Another wave hit him as he tried to shake it off, but this time it was a cold shower that rained over his back and he shuddered slightly.

Shortly after Jack was by his side again, looking up to him with the big, blue eyes of his, asking him what he was doing and Mark honestly could not find words as he stared.

Instead he pointed further down the path, before they finally set foot into the shop once more.

Their visit went just the same as last time, both entering, setting the bell off over the door and Bob appearing from behind the counter. He was quick to get the laptop and while waiting Jack had found himself back with the games once more, shuffling curiously through them, while Mark kept an eye and ear out for him. Thanking Bob for the effort the other dismissed that it was not too hard, just some phone calls here and there and Mark nodded along, both falling into small talk.

Which did not last long as Jack made a high pitched squeal, Mark’s head snapping up and looking behind him in panic.

“What happened?!”

“I found a game with a fox in it!” Jack called back, smile evident in his voice as Mark slapped his hand to his forehead, Bob giggling behind him.

Then Mark shook his head as he mumbled, eyes half lidded: “Next time let it be silent excitement when you see something interesting.”

Jack just nodded as he was back to plucking cases out of order, while Mark got white knuckled, breathing out slowly, mumbling under his breath, Bob lifting an eyebrow slowly. For a second nobody said a word, Mark still watching Jack to make sure he would not make another sound to disturb the silence, before his mind went blank.

“So, you two are brothers, then?”

If Mark had not known better, he would have said that his body had just been hit by lightning.

He had a hard time not breaking his neck at the speed he was turning his head to the shopkeeper, his eyes wide as he felt his body almost paralyze, every fibre of his body suddenly shutting down and flashing to life painfully. His chest tightened first, then he remembered to breathe, before his head was pounding loudly against his skull. Only after a few moments he dared to let his shoulders fall, eyes scanning the floor as his brows furrowed, not knowing where to look.

Biting his lip he turned his body halfway to look back at Jack, who was distracted as ever, the smile on his face unmistakably genuine.

Cringing, he looked away, replying with a soft: “Kind of.”

“I see. I’m sorry for prying around, it wasn’t really my place,” Bob answered then unsure, worry washing over his face, noting the reaction, “I didn’t mean to upset you so harshly, I was just curious.”

“I… am not upset. Really. It’s fine”

“Do you need to sit down? God, I didn’t mean to open old wounds or anything like that, I’m so sorry. You are trembling all over.”

Mark realized that he was and the longer he denied that he was not feeling anything the worse it got as he looked up and stared across the room, his eyes empty.

He was not angry.

He was not upset.

He was not sad.

Was he?

“Sir?”

Mark really could not deny the truth anymore as he felt his eyes tear up and he swallowed hard, knowing that he was feeling something, having known for the longest time that he was able to feel but not being able to admit it to himself. He understood that the stone that settled on top of him every so often was the accumulation of his emotions welling up in him, the weight once again close to crushing him. But it was deciphering those emotions that troubled him, never knowing what to do with them.

And because of that he had to admit that he really did not know everything.

He did not know anything.

He did not know anything at all.

He had thought that he was emotionless, had thought he was still as calculating and logical as before, but after so much time he knew he had been lying to himself. He had to accept that he indeed did feel, that he had started to learn how to feel, and that he had acted according to his feelings, even though they were irrational.

He had been angry, because of Nina and Jack pushing him into the lake.

He had been homesick when he was missing Bo.

He had been amused when Jack had given him his drawing and when he was trying to fix the cube.

He had been frustrated, because they were not getting closer to a solution to their predicament.

But he could not always just splice what he felt into categories, into simple puzzle pieces that fit a situation. Conflicting feelings that did not make sense were troubling him, the swirls that were storming in him too much to bear.

What he felt right now was overwhelming him terribly.

Swallowing once more, his dry tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth.

It was the same, crushing feeling he had felt when he had fought with Jack in the forest, and the same ugly pain he had felt while talking to Wade.

It was not just anger, hot and bubbling and short lived.

Or frustration, screaming and scratching at the insides of his skull.

Or sadness, heavy and pulling at the pit of his stomach.

It was all balled into a single stab, digging its way into his gut, Mark trying to give it a name. Any name to cling those feelings onto a word he could define and make sense with. A word that would be able to combine the anger and frustration and sadness, the sheer hopelessness and fear, the amount of fondness that had grown in him and was tearing him apart, because he did not know what to do with it.

Guilt.

It was guilt.

Noticing his face heating up uncomfortably, he brushed over his eyes, trying to push the tears back with trembling hands, the realization hitting him like another lightning strike, like a flood, like an avalanche and like a ton of bricks, all at the same time.

Guilt.

He felt guilty for having pushed Jack that far away from him, for having taken control. He had ignored him over the years, believing it was for Bo’s good, so he would learn to concentrate on the important things in life, having pushed feelings aside as if they were nothing but weight. He had genuinely thought he could take care of everything alone and that is how everything had derailed, because he had been too stubborn to confront his other half, to work things out.

He had pushed his other half away.

His literal other half.

Before he could really compose himself, to explain himself to Bob, he pressed a hand to his mouth, whispering.

“He’s the closest thing to a brother that I will ever have.”


	18. Right Brain Unattended

Confusion coursed through Jack as they walked out of the store.

It was not that he was not used to Mark being quiet, Mark loved being quiet at times, but the way he avoided eye contact concerned him. Even as the red head had called out to him to leave he had not locked gazes with him, something he always did. He always looked him in the eyes, made sure he listened, before he turned. But not this time and Jack felt fidgety, not really knowing if it was something he did or if Mark was just too deep in thought to address him.

Slowing down he poked the other in the arm, hoping for a reaction.

However his prodding was useless, Mark kept quiet and Jack did not bother further, his hands already plucking out another sheet of paper from his pockets, folding it patiently. He was not sure what he was going for, ripping it into smaller pieces, glancing up from time to time to see if Mark would say something, anything, where they were going or what he was planning on doing. Jack did not know himself what he wanted to do, not being able to make a proposal.

But ripping the paper gave him a small idea as he glanced at the pieces and he snipped his fingers, now concentrated in his work.

Then he heard Mark speak up and his heart eased with a small sigh of relief.

“And what are you doing now?”

“Folding more paper!”

Mark sighed internally, chest heaving, before he pointed: “I can see that, but why? What are you folding?”

And suddenly Jack moved faster then Mark had anticipated, the green head shoving the paper onto the others face. For a slight moment Left Brain was too confused to react, his mind still foggy and trying to sort his thoughts out, so Jack had the possibility to lean higher, pushing the paper now on top of Mark’s hair, his smile never faltering.

“A flower crown!” Jack then explained heartily, shoulders to his ears, “The children told me those calm people down!”

They had told him a lot of things when he had spent the time with racing them. They were a talk-active bunch and he took a great deal of enjoyment listening to them, gathering tiny pieces of information here and there, and smiling over the antics the children spoke about. And as they had mourned the loss of roses that were dying in the autumn cold and in the same breath talking about snow, Mai had asked him if he could fold a flower as well. Jack had to take some time to try it out, but at some point he had made it, Olivia tucking it behind her ear and walking around with it proudly.

And now Mark tried to look up, trying to identify the fake flowers, but only being greeted by his red hair that had been ruffled, his eyebrows rising. One of his hands pushed then upwards, feeling the delicate sheets and set them more comfortable, his face still curious.

“Are you calmer now?”

Left Brain thought about it.

He did appreciate the idea.

And Jack was obviously proud, his heart clenching.

“…Actually I am!” Mark decided then, his hands on his hips, the tiniest smile hanging on to his lips, “Suits me, doesn’t it?”

Jack just closed his eyes as he answered with his pointing finger in the air: “Very!”

Then Mark nodded, lifting the ring of paper from his head, his eyes inspecting it with a fond look: “You are very talented with handy work.”

“Well that’s, ah… Thank you!” Right Brain spluttered, “Thanks! I guess I am!”

He could not utter more than that, too speechless to wrap his mind around the fact that Mark had complemented him in such a genuine tone. He was not used to it and a tremble travelled up his spine in shock, his smile reappearing. It was not often that he felt that appreciated and he leant closer, tilting his head.

“But you are much better with it. You made a swan!”

“There is a difference between being able to recreate a memory of an instruction paper from 4th grade, following the rules, and being creative in your folding techniques, learning by doing it yourself and willing to fail.”

Jack folded into himself, more because of embarrassment then anything else as he put his hand to his neck: “It wasn’t that hard…”

However Mark shook his head, denying Jack’s words and looking down at the self-made headwear once more. Then he decided to put the flowers on Jack, catching Right Brain off guard, and he crossed his arms, tilting his head to the side. For a second he put his hand to his chin, as if he was contemplating something with hard concentration, before he righted his glasses.

“They seem to suit you better.”

Jack could just grin brightly, as he nodded: “Absolutely. I’m rocking those paper flowers.”

Then he realized that Mark was averting his eyes once more, walking away from him and Jack reached clumsily out, hands grasping the other by the back of his flannel.

“Where are we going?”

For a moment silence hung around them, Jack still grasping the clothing between both of his hands, before the other turned, his face unmoving. Right Brain did not really understand what was going on, for the other seemed to flip switches the entire time, the green head in one moment thinking he had come through to Mark and joking around and then in the next second getting no response from him.

Jack just blinked as they followed the street, putting the flower crown neatly on top of his head, trying to come up with reasons why Mark was acting the way he did.

Maybe he was feeling frustrated because they were not getting any further in finding out how to help Bo? But then he would act more huffy. Maybe he was feeling hungry? But then again, Left Brain forgot to eat half the time, Jack had reminded him to eat something a few times now. Was he sad? If so, why? They had the computer so he could work, that surely would make him happy.

Then he remembered that Mark had said he does not really feel, so it had nothing to do with any of the above. Or at least his feelings did not get him off track like his own did, he was the logical one so he knew what he was doing all the time. He pouted at that, frustrated that he had no clue what Left Brain was thinking about behind that stony face, before his mind meandered again, following the street with his eyes.

He wondered where they were going.

Must be an important place he mused.

Letting the square behind them, his eyes roamed around, watching as people made their rounds around stands. More than once he stopped out of curiosity, but caught himself every single time, not wanting to worry Mark for having walked off again. He was not sure in what kind of tangled mess the red head had caught himself in, his eyes unfocused and seemingly thinking hard the whole time, so he was trying not to upset him in any way.

But he was not very talented in squelching his curiosity.

The giggling of the stand owner followed them after him having touched one of the soaps on her counter, which resulted into him having a conversation with her about the colourful assortment. The follow up to that short meeting was him letting out a tiny “smooth” here and there, as he rubbed his hands together, which were now cleaner than they probably had ever been in his whole entire life. Looking up once more, he watched Mark crossing his arms, instead of Jack having to fall into his step, the red head falling into his. They were not hurrying around, he had the time to wave at people, talk to some while Mark waited every single time for him to finish. He could clearly see that Mark was not quite here, his posture showing that he was unhappy about something.

Jack’s gut twisted, brows furrowed in worry, before he timidly asked: “Are you okay?”

“Why the question?”

“I dunno, you act a bit aloof.”

“Aloof?”

“It means… ah well… It means being cold and distant, which you normally are, but now even more, ya know?” He sighed a bit. “Just thought I should ask.”

“I am just thinking, Jack, that is all.”

“About?”

Again no answer, and Jack was slowly starting to get desperate, wanting to know and to help, trying to come up with an argument that might make the other talk.

He cringed however as Mark put his hands on his shoulders out of nowhere, looking down at him with a blank face.

Jack first stared at the hands connected to him, before glancing up, unnerved by everything that was happening right now. The only thing he could do was awkwardly stand there, the flowers dropping to one side while Mark did not make any move to explain himself.

“I have a proposition.”

Jack swallowed dryly: “Yeah?”

“How about the rest of the day we do things independently from each other?”

Jack was again at a loss of words as he lifted his eyebrows in surprise.

“Today is the last day before the festival tomorrow and I have something I need to take care of. Remembering that we promised to go and what you said a few days prior I realized that you were correct. So I am asking you to spend the day today how you please and make some fond memories for Bo while I go and handle the situation on my own.”

“Seriously…?”

“Certainly.”

Before Mark could let go however, Jack crashed forward and hugged him around the middle, burying his face into his chest. It was only for a few seconds, Left Brain not even having time to really register the tight squeeze, before Jack resurfaced and bounced on his feet. His hands were beside him as he nodded, face set in excited determination.

“I’ll make some great memories, Mark! You’ll see as soon as we are Bo again!”

Left Brain felt melancholic, another stab burying itself into his chest at the fact that Jack had used his chosen name, but did not dwell on it as he approved of his statement.

Then they stood.

“What even do you need to do?” Jack wondered, curiosity swirling in him.

“I have something I need to research.”

“So you going to the library?”

“I’m going home.”

“Why?”

Pointing up to the sky, his finger directing his attention to a drone, Jack let out a small “oh right, right”, realizing that Mark could use the computer once more, which had surely reached its destination by now.

“I guess, see you later then?”

“Alright. See you later, Jack.”

They still stood, unmoving.

“This is hard,” Jack then admitted.

“Usually you love running around and going out of my sight, I assumed you would have dashed off by now.”

“That’s because I kinda know you would always come look for me. Now I know you won’t.”

“I guess you can pretend as if I would look for you while you roam about. And then come home as soon as you had enough. It’s not like you won’t find me either if you are in search for me.”

Jack let his shoulders fall, as he timidly enquired: “Are you sure I can?”

“Probably. You were successful in finding Wade twice, so I’m not putting it past you.”

“That’s true, huh?” Jack agreed, before starting to back off, almost having to force himself to leave: “Alright then. See ya in a few, right?”

“Right.”

And so Mark turned on his heels, Jack watching him as he purposefully walked into the direction of Bo’s house, Jack keeping his eyes on him until he vanished. When he was sure he was gone, Jack stood still however, asking himself what he should do with his free time. It did not really feel right to be on his own, he guessed that made sense, but at the same time maybe it was a good thing. Thinking back to what Samantha said, that could be a chance to just do what he wanted without needing to think of the other.

Did not make it easier to decide what he actually should do.

The paper flowers were still on his head and he pulled them down, smiling.

He was incredibly glad that the other was starting to open up, he had really for the longest time felt like the other resented him. Now Mark did not scold him anymore because he was just doing something fun and Mark did not mind anymore when he was getting a bit more side-tracked. He had even let him walk further away than usual, letting him talk to others, not encouraging but at least trusting him with his decisions.

His face relaxed even more and he was sure now that the other did at least have a soft spot somewhere for him, even if he kept putting up a wall to deny it.

Now he needed to go tell Wade about it, Jack was sure he would be thrilled to hear about their progress.

Maybe he even had an idea on what to do!

But before he could send his conclusion to his feet to make them move forward, the four troublemakers crossed his path. At first he had not noticed them, but then the colourful blur of blue, green, white and orange came into his vision and he laughed as they tackled into him.

“Jack!” Spencer called out as first one to greet him, “We were just talking about tomorrow!”

“Are you excited?!” Oliva pounced at him once more, hanging on to his legs, “I am excited!”

Jack smiled down at them, grin wide as ever as he replied: “You guys bet I am!”

“Say, where is Mark?”

Jack shrugged at Nina, before he set the flowers on top of her hair, replying after the squeal of delight: “He has something he needs to do and went home. I can stay though, I think he needs his space.”

“Oh, that’s okay, we just had something we wanted to show you both, but just you is okay as well!”

“Yeah,” Mai interrupted, “He can see it tomorrow anyway!”

“What are ya guys talking about?” Jack curiously asked, smile going to the side, “Another surprise?”

“Nah, not really! At this point everybody knows about that one.”

“But you! Because you are new!”

Jack giggled as he tilted his head: “Okay then, lead the way!”

The four children were, to say the least, ecstatic. The fact that they finished school and that Jack was so willing to see what they were excited about made them even more jumpy then they already were, so it took them even longer to reach the church, Jack glancing around the cemetery as they lead him past it to the trees.

There he was greeted with the same sight as last time, this time however with one big difference.

“A stage?”

“Yeah! A stage!” Olivia spread her arms out, “With a curtain and everything!”

“What is it for?” Jack asked interested as they stepped closer, inspecting it with awe.

He had not thought to be greeted with such a sight, remembering now what the villagers were doing as the two brain halves had been up here to look for Wade. The structure was built sturdily, dark wooden planks as base while the stage was set a few feet above ground. To the side they had put sound boxes up while a curtain was bound to the side with rope, the view to the backstage visible. There stood a few instruments and chairs, as well as people that seemed to be practicing a performance. Lights were up and Jack could already imagine how it would look like in the evening.

“For everything!” Spencer laughed then, shaking Jack out of his musings, before adding, “Well, the teacher said it’s a talent thing, but without it being serious or stuffy.”

Nina added: “It’s just for fun! You can go up there and do whatever you want and then leave again! I think it’s great!”

Jack was intrigued, as he watched the workers set some static backgrounds, balancing them out. A stage had never been a thing on the autumn festival before. There were the stands and the lights but to build a stage to laugh the cold months in the face was a great idea he realized. Especially if there was not anything to gain but just having fun with the others.

“And you can do anything?”

Nina nodded: “A few already said that they would go on it for sure. Like singing and dancing is pretty much on the list. And one theatre somebody wrote, which is really neat! Some are going to show off stuff they made as well, so pretty much anything, yeah.”

That made Jack even more intrigued, as he looked down at the children: “Do you guys have something planned for it?”

Mai leant up with her toes and he had to crouch down as she whispered: “We are right at the end and will lead everybody to the forest, like the big conclusion. We asked if we can do it but we didn’t say why.”

“I see, makes sense!”

“Are you going to do something for it?” Spencer then asked, “You could fold something or do a magic trick! You could go find Nina’s hair clip again!”

“Don’t you dare Spencer, I just got it back!” she squeaked instead, her hands clamping around it on top of her head, almost knocking the flowers away as well, hoping to shield it away from the boy who had gotten closer, “No way I’m losing it again!”

Jack on the other head was unsure: “I don’t know really. Being on stage would be fun, but I don’t really have anything I could show. Folding paper is not really that interesting, especially if people can’t see it from far away and remember, Mark found it, not me.”

“What about a comedy act?”

Jack and the children jumped as Samantha appeared beside them, waving softly. Neither of them had noticed her approaching and she smiled at them, her eyes fixated on Jack, waiting for an answer. Jack however was speechless as he tried to find words.

“Oh yeah!” Nina then agreed, saving him unintentionally, “You and Mark both like comedy, right? You could do something together!”

For a second Right Brain was too absent minded to answer, looking at Samantha, before he averted his eyes to the ground. Then he seemed to think about it, before he carefully uttered: “I think Mark wouldn’t really be up for it. He likes comedy but it’s not really something he would spent his time too long on.” He paused before he closed his eyes. “And I’m not sure if I’m that funny to really do something like that on my own.”

“Aww,” Samantha spoke up, “I think you should at least give it a try. It is only for a bit of fun. And you guys are already a comedic duo without much thought behind it from what I heard and saw. There isn’t really preparation needed in your case.”

That made the green head chuckle, as he rubbed his neck in embarrassment: “We kinda are a comedic duo, huh?”

“Seems to be in the family, I can’t say you two don’t have any talent for it.”

“Well, we two have to be good at something together after all. Even if it is bickering.”

She laughed: “See, already a good start.” Then she winked. “I’m sure he’ll be up for it. Asking won’t hurt. And seeing you on stage would be interesting to say the least.”

“…I think I’ll try to ask him,” Jack then mumbled, “He can’t say more than no, so it really wouldn’t hurt.”

“Let’s hope you can persuade him! I would love to see you two.”

As Jack’s cheeks heated up, the children contemplated the two adults with varying sorts of emotions plastered on their faces, before Samantha was called back to her stand. She waved once more hastily, telling Jack to keep his head high and to try convince Mark, smiling at the five of them, before leaving. As she then disappeared, Jack still staring after her with his hand lifted in a waving motion he suddenly had the children in a line before him, grinning mischievously.

“You love her,” Nina then said matter-of-factly.

“What? Well, I mean, I don’t hate her of course but, uh…” Jack choked, “What gives you that idea?”

“The way you look at her?”

“You smile awkwardly.”

“You blush!”

“And you stare.”

Jack’s shoulders sagged: “I do like her, but not like-like, you know? It’s… I don’t know, she’s just always been really nice.”

The children however did not let him off the hook as they sing-songed around him, Jack at a loss of words. Bo himself had never been on a look out for anything romantic specifically, so the children calling him out on being so obviously smitten made him uncomfortable.

“Kids, please…” Jack tried again, shushing them, “Please, keep it down, I don’t want to talk about this…”

“Why?” Mai stared up with curious eyes, hearing the helpless tone in his voice, “Don’t you like her?”

“Well, of course I do. She’s incredible and helped me out a lot but…”

“Are you afraid?”

Jack had to breathe out as he stared at Spencer, who tilted his head.

“It’s complicated.”

“No it’s not,” Olivia said confidently, as she held on to Mai’s hand, “If you like someone you tell them to their face! How do you want to become friends with anyone if you don’t tell them how you feel? Look, like this!” Turning to Mai she grinned, “I love you!”

“I love you, too!” Mai smirked, as she then turned to Jack, “See? Easy!”

“And if she says no then you were unlucky. Everybody gets unlucky,” Nina then provided.

Jack was conflicted in deciding if he should laugh or bury his head in his hands to hide himself. How could he even start to explain to them what really bothered him about all this? That is was not because of his fear of being rejected?

Half of it was of course the fear, who was not afraid of their own crush?

He had known her for half his life, the gigantic gap never having bothered them when they met back again in collage. And he could not deny he would love to know her better, always being too skittish to really start anything. He had crossed paths with many people, talked to many, joking and smiling, but she was special. Sometimes a stranger made his head reel out of nowhere of course, friends had called him jokingly out back then, pointing out that he was crushing on seemingly every nice person he met.

But Wade had seen right through him from the beginning and had started to play wingman when he realised that this was a deeper case. That Bo lingered with his eyes just a second longer on Samantha then the rest of the people he periodically took interest in and it was another embarrassing fact that made Jack cringe on how obvious Bo had been.

And if Bo was obvious, then Jack was a display stand.

However, it was not only the fear that held him back.

But also because he was confused.

Was it ever really love?

Suddenly his head spun anew as he started to ponder.

He had never actually thought about love, or any feeling, in that way, emotions came easily to him, were second nature to him. Saying that he loved his friends, that was easy to say, but did he really understand it? Love made his chest light and warm and his muscles relax, but why does that happen? And the thing was when he was happy in general, those were the same types of warmth that spread through him.

What if he felt wrong? What if he just mistook happiness for love, happiness that he gave too much credit to? What if he was misinterpreting?

As Bo he unconsciously always kind of knew that he was right, simmered in the background as Mark decided on Bo’s actions himself. He always had to hold everything back because he was not allowed to step out of the bubble that had been built while Mark carefully laid out what the logical thing to do was. And when he made a mistake, it was an opportunity for Jack. It was like flushing out his system before he would gather again and wait for the next mistake.

But now, now he was on dry land.

He was on his own, he felt a lot but he also let those emotions out immediately, acting on instinct. It was natural, it was what he was meant to do.

But this was different.

He could not explain it fully on why it was different, but it was.

And if it was different, maybe he was wrong?

What if he was messing up?

In this form, there was no way he could be sure if he was feeling right. He was not Bo, he knew that too well now and by himself it was too big of a question to ask himself, overwhelming him. To top it off, Mark was surely not going to encourage him either in following the train of thought he had started to board.

He was not fond of emotions, they were already crazy enough to him and he probably did not want to have a discussion about them in any shape or form.

Still.

Jack wished he were here right now.

Instead of dwelling on that fact, he shook his head as he told them: “Maybe some other time. Right now it’s not a good moment to tell her, like, at all. She’s busy anyway, guys.”

“Well, we are going to help you when you are ready!” Olivia promised, her face already set in unstoppable determination, as the others nodded vigorously in agreement.

That made Jack smile as he chuckled: “Thanks guys. I appreciate. I’ll be sure to ask you.” Then he glanced at the sky, trying to move them away from the topic at hand. “It’s gotten pretty dark.”

The children were immediately groaning and Jack had to laugh harder as they mumbled about not wanting to go home and rather staying outside longer. But Jack was sure to usher them back, saying they would worry their caretakers if they did not go home soon. Spencer was the first to relent, knowing his aunt and not wanting to anger her. Olivia and Mai left soon afterwards as well, still holding hands as they waved them good night. And for the fact that Nina and Jack had the same way back, she took his hand, asking him if he could take her with.

Walking down the hill towards home, Nina could not help but glance up to the other, the flowers still in place as she rearranged them a bit more comfortable, her eyes still wide with a question burning in them.

“How long are you two gonna stay anyway?”

Jack bit his lip: “Not sure. It might be that we leave tomorrow, it might be that we won’t leave for another few days.”

“Oh,” Nina whispered softly, “I hope you stay a lot longer.”

Right Brain was not sure what to say to that, both brain halves still had no single clue on how to get Bo back.

Or rather he had no clue, because he had never asked Mark if he had gotten anything figured out. He wondered if that is why he had been acting the way he did today. Maybe it will take even longer than anticipated, maybe weeks, maybe months, and that is why Mark was so silent today, because he was trying to find solutions. He did say he would work it out and was right now, in this instance, surely deep in his investigations about the computer and the lab and everything surrounding it.

But again, if he was coming closer to a solution, then why was he starting to get quieter and quieter about it? Jack had been sure his other half would keep him updated on every single hint he found, but so far he had kept him in the shadows.

Was he having a hard time finding a solution? Should Jack ask him to help out? Again, he probably would not be much of help, but he could try.

Maybe Left Brain was giving up?

No, that was not like Mark at all, he never gave up, he was focused and knew things. That is why he was trying so hard while Jack could spend his days being silly. He was productive and kept working until the day he died. He would probably rather die working on getting Bo back then keep living on and doing nothing, that is just who he was.

Right Brain closed his eyes as he sighed out.

Mark was obviously figuring out how to get them back to normal, but what was Right Brain doing?

Because Jack had messed up with Bo’s emotions, Mark had stepped in, right? If he had been better and had kept himself steady, then Mark would not have needed to take the wheel. And Jack would not have needed to force himself back in control, only to mess up. That is what he had told Wade as well.

All of that happened because he had wanted to be in control, to be in charge.

Because he had acted like a selfish child.

Just like Mark had said.

Pressing a hand to his forehead he was suddenly getting extremely dizzy and he stumbled, noises filling his ears. For a moment he did not register having fallen to his knees, having tugged the girl beside him to the ground as well, and he only noticed after she had put her hand on his shoulder.

“You okay?”

Jack nodded as he kept kneeling, hand still pressed against his head, eyes squeezing shut. For a moment he felt a tremble in his spine, before it lay off again, the only thing troubling him the pounding in his skull and the soft ringing noise in his ears. Only after he had let go of Nina and pressed his other hand against the side of his head it stopped and he took a deep breath.

“Sorry,” he then mumbled, “Headache.”

“Your eyes are glowing.”

“Huh?”

“That’s okay. They stopped. You better now?”

Jack smiled down at her: “Yeah. Yeah I’m good. It’s not far anymore, let’s get ya home.”

But the experience made his gears spin and for a moment he had the need to run off somewhere. Worry was written on his face, but he kept quiet as Nina yawned, even though she argued not being tired, lazily following him by the hand once more. After he had told her goodbye at the doorsteps of her house, both wishing each other good night, he had made it back into Bo’s four walls.

And the fact that Mark was not here made him feel squeamish.

Where was he?


	19. A Punch A Day Does Not Keep The Grieve At Bay

After Mark had left Jack to his own devices he had not walked home.

In his mission to find answers, and also reassurance, he had went to the train station.

Needing to reach Vinestone was his primary mission right now, had drilled that fact into his skull as he had been making his way to the tracks. He knew it would be a long shot but if he got to the computer, he could maybe find out a physical way to fix things. He had enough information to trigger it into talking, he was able reprogram it. At this point it did not matter how dangerous it would be. If there was a way to splice them then there was a way to bring them back together and he did not care in the slightest if every issue between the two had been solved.

Mark knew he had fucked up, he did not need more days to get it hammered into his skull.

And as he sat on the bench in his otherwise empty compartment, watching the scenery go by, he needed a minute to collect his thoughts.

Even if he was able to change the computers opinion on both of them, for tomorrow he had promised Jack and the children to spend the day at the festival together and with everything they had been through he could not take that away from them, he rather shot a bullet through his skull. That meant tomorrow was a lost day. After tomorrow was Wednesday and the village would go back to normal, or at least there would be nothing worth waiting for Jack to explore.

But why was he even hurrying?

There was no need for hurry anymore.

There had been.

But now it was too late.

Burying his head in his hands he sighed and tried to think clearly, but it was hard, incredibly hard and he clenched his teeth together. If they went and met the computer on Wednesday it would maybe cooperate with them to turn them back to Bo. He was aware that he had hindered Jack in doing his job and Jack was aware of Mark just having wanted to help. It would certainly work if they talked it out tomorrow, they were both more than ready and on one page.

But something entirely else was bothering him, beyond a simple talk.

They were changing.

They had changed.

They were starting to learn the functions of the other, Jack was getting more and more aware, resourceful and started questioning his surroundings, while Mark was starting to balance his feelings, acting out on them, which were then interfering with every single action of his. With every day they were getting less and less dependable on each other, they had no reason to, they were becoming separate.

It would become harder to combine again.

He knew why he needed glasses and why his eyes were suddenly getting better. He knew why Right Brain had an Irish accent and was slowly but surely losing it. At first they had been perfectly spliced brain halves, the computer had been precise, but they were human. A human brain needs to feel, needs to understand, so it learns. They have been from the second on they were split apart trying to fill the void. They were slowly but surely modifying their own brain cells, maybe even producing more cells so they would balance out the one’s missing.

The second they came to existence they were Mark and Jack.

They were not just Left Brain and Right Brain.

He had lied to him.

He crunched his eyes shut as his hands were ripping at his hair, frustration seemingly oozing from his system. He could feel the tenseness building in his arms and his hands as he curled into himself, trying to not lash out. Every fibre of his being was screaming at him to do something about it, to let it out, but he could not. He could not let himself go, he was logical and practical, there were no rooms for mistakes.

But it was so hard, so incredibly hard.

Now he just wanted to curl into a ball, into a tight ball right here on this bench in a train in the middle of driving to the grey, chrome city, glaring out of the window. He could see the pillars of metal already towering and the sun dipping behind the horizon, that place where everything was bigger than he was menacingly staring him down, hovering like an omen.

Now he really knew what feeling lost meant.

While he sat there, legs to his chest, staring at the hills stretching before him, he mulled over every single thing he had done over the last days and he flinched more than enough times to indicate that he was at a loss on his behaviour. Chewing over conversations and the way he reacted he noted that he had been in denial for the longest time and he let his head fall on top of his knees, crumbling.

The worst thing was that he was not able to fix anything of that now.

What was done was done.

Words replayed and replayed and he could not come up with any words that could make up for the one’s he had uttered.

So much regret in such short time was unbearable.

And Mark felt a slight pang as he climbed out of the train, heart racing as he stumbled through the bushes surrounding the laboratory, his face in a determined frown.

It took him at most five minutes to climb over the sticks and stones, breaking the twigs in half and throwing them away, barging into the bubble house and almost jumping over the table that separated the guestroom from the computer. He did not care in the slightest for the small “Hello!” that the robot at the reception threw his way or for the speaking box on the wall, as he just announced in a bitter tone that he needed to talk.

Miraculously it actually listened to him and he kicked the black door open, his fists clenched as he stared at the computer with a disgusted face, hatred written all over it.

“You!!”

The computer turned on, as if it was dazed, lights blinking here and there, before the green numbers cascaded down. Mark, even though he had experience in reading codes, could not read any of the calculations, just too fast for him to comprehend, but he did grit his teeth at the voice that suddenly appeared.

“Hello.”

“Turn us back!”

“Enquiry is being processed.”

A small pause.

“Denied.”

“You stupid piece of rust metal! I don’t care about if you think we belong together or not! We need Bo back!”

“I am here to help Bo Burnham.”

“Then do us all a favour and bring him back, for fuck’s sake!”

“I cannot do that.”

“You split us, we are working together, it’s not perfect but it has to be enough!” Mark tried to reason, desperate at this point, “If you want to help Bo, then you of all things want him to return, or am I wrong?”

“My instructions are to help Bo Burnham.”

Mark was getting frustrated: “I know that.”

“His left and right brain are at war.”

“We aren’t at war! We have disagreements but it’s not a war!”

The computer went silent, buzzing, but Mark had the gut feeling that it was not thinking about changing its mind.

“My instructions are to help Bo Burnham. His left and right brain are at war. Their desires are not compatible to each other, no common ground detected.” It suddenly flickered. “Complications transpired: subject’s autonomy resulting interference.”

“Because I have emotions and Right Brain has reason,” Mark just responded tiredly, not a real question, but a stated fact, his teeth barred.

“Yes.”

“Is there no way?” Mark tried once more, his hands in front of him, trying to convince the screen, his voice strained “No way to get him back? You can’t leave us like this, there has to be a solution.”

Silence.

“Anything. There has to be a way to bring Bo back, maybe cut the new cells we gained or, or anything else that might cram us back together,” Mark whispered, at the end of his rope, “You are a computer, you are able to scan us. You are able to fit us together again. It isn’t about him being fixed mentally, it’s about bringing him back.”

He sighed.

“Please, just… anything.”

It was all what Mark wanted, for him and Jack to be back being in one body. Even if nothing would change, even if they forgot all of what had transpired, it was better to be back to zero than this. Being Bo was better than being split apart like this, with the guilt and regret. It was illogical for them to be like this, it was emotionally too jarring to think about.

They just wanted him back.

If there was anything the computer could do, it had to do it.

It had to.

“I do have a solution.”

Mark listened up as he stared, the dread in his stomach getting heavier but a glimmer of hope rising.

“You have?” his voice turned relived, as he blinked, “Well, what is it?”

The light in the room dimmed suddenly and his heart started pounding, eyebrows narrowing, watching as the screen flickered dangerously above him, the lines on the ground flashing. Then he shuddered as he backed away, back hitting the door as a sense of bad deja-vu hit him simultaneously, his legs trembling and not sure on what he should do. Panic rose to his throat and his legs locked up, as if they were glued to the ground. He could not flee, could not fight, could not even think clearly as the thing started to roar, his eyes burning from the green, burning light, dancing dots clouding his vision. The noise of the machines made his ears ring, and his hands wandered to his head, pressing against his temples, hissing in pain.

“My instructions are to fix patient 24602, Bo Burnham.” The static voice started to crack, as if it was powering too many of its processors at once. “His left and right brain are at war.”

He frowned, as he hissed: “No, that’s what you said before, we…”

“Last resort initiated.”

“I don’t understand,” he then spluttered out as another crack of electricity flashed in the air, his neck hair standing up, “What is your solution?”

“Bo cannot live with two minds.”

Mark blinked as his face turned upwards, fingers numbing.

Death had not been on his list of things today as he came over.

It still was not.

Gripping the knob on the door he rattled at it, already trying to think of a million ways to break his way out, his mind racing with probabilities and possibilities. His survival percentages were exactly zero if he stayed for any more moments and he swallowed, trying to be level headed.

Just as he was about to fall into full blown panic the knob clicked and he threw his eyebrows up.

With a surprised huff he realized that this time it was open, he was able to leave easily and he stopped in his tracks. For a second he wanted to dash away, take his legs into his hands, it was his chance to escape, but then he reminded himself of who he was and he turned back, eyes wide but determined.

“What are you doing?” he then asked, more timidly then he had wanted, “What are you trying to do?”

“Erase.”

“Erase?” Some hope swung with, as much as he hated to admit, “Are you going to dissect our new formed pieces?”

“No.”

“No?”

“Fusion not possible. Bo Burnham does not have two minds. He will have to go,” the computer once more called out, flashing green as Mark stepped back, heart pounding, “Erasure initiated.”

He went silent as he shook his head, now slowly understanding what it was actually doing, understanding the implications.

“No…”

Then he screamed louder.

“NO! No, you can’t do that!! This won’t help Bo or Jack or me or anybody! You will make things worse! If we stay, doesn’t mean that we are Bo! That’s not how it works!”

“My instructions are to-“

“I fucking KNOW what they are and you are WRONG!” he bellowed, stepping up to it, his fist lifted, “We don’t want to stay like this! We don’t want him to die! He won’t be better off DEAD! That’s NOT how it WORKS! WHAT YOU ARE DOING IS MURDER!”

“Bo Burnham came to the facility to be helped with his incompatible brain halves.”

“With killing him?!”

“You two were killing him.”

“That is not-!”

“No other options detected.”

“There are a million ways!!”

“None of them probable of success.”

“Of course they are, they-“

“Experiment failed.”

That was the last straw.

And without a second thought Mark threw his curled up hand forward, the glass screen in front of him catching the powerful punch with a sickening crunch. Letting out a strangled roar, the glass splinters crumbled to the floor, the noise of the crack echoing around him. Bits and pieces fell to his feet, the screen now adorned with a spidery web of fine, jagged lines. He gasped hard at that, the satisfaction of having punched the screen not as rewarding as he had hoped. Mark could not even breathe in the thick, stale air, his heart hammering, his free hand going to his chest as another pang made itself known.

After his brain had processed what he had done, his body shook and he pushed his fist deeper, tears gathering and a muffled noise escaping his lips. In the back of his mind he was grateful that he had finally let out the pent up frustration and another thought crossed him that he was glad no other, single soul was around to have witnessed his rage. Mainly Jack that is. Another mental check reminded him that the screen was made out of thick, sturdy material and that a cracked screen was nothing to be concerned about, so the damage in that sense was non-existent as well. He even looked up to make sure, the computer not responding to his act of violence at all. No response came, nothing, the computer was buzzing and beeping, working, lights flashing.

But he did not care at all about that, the computer had done this to them.

Then finally he felt the pain that flashed in his knuckles, the adrenalin that had coursed through him leaving him steadily and making the sting worse. Glass lay everywhere around him and he grit his teeth, a tired moan leaving him.

What was he doing?

What should he do?

What could he do?

Bringing Bo back was impossible, he had to be realistic.

If they were turning into separate brains all together, it meant that Robert was lost forever.

Dead.

He should have known that it had been a long shot.

Too long of a shot.

With a huff he let his fist finally detach from the computer, the lack of steady wall making his knees go weak. Before he could do more then let out a breath he sunk down, collapsing and landing on his rear as he hid his face in his arms. There he tried to catch some sort of resemblance of dignity but it fell away just as quickly as he started to sob, tears leaking down his face as he sat, the room filled with his silent weeping.


	20. Happy

Blinking up at the sky he could see it darken and the thought of needing to talk burned inside him.

Having reached Pappelcreek the same way he had left it, finding himself at the train station again, Mark had no idea where he should go from here. He felt exhausted, helpless and all above just horrible. Too many thoughts were trying to battle their way to the forefront of his head and he wanted to shut them up, squash them into silence. He wanted silence or noise that was not his.

He needed someone to talk to.

Someone that would listen.

And with that settled he was off, running down the street as if the devil himself was chasing him with the last rays of sun, Mark hoping with all his might that he would catch his weasel of a friend. Mark did not really care about anything at this point as he passed by people, the red head skidding around corners as darkness fell over him like a blanket. Some people even had to jump out of his way or blinked as he passed, turning in their spots to stare at him with surprised faces, but he couldn’t care less.

Then he saw the tell-tale red hoodie, his friend just about to open the door to his house.

“Wait up, Wade!”

The other visibly cringed at the noise, heart leaping to his throat a bit as he saw the other cascading down the street, but then greeted the other with a smile anyway.

“Mark! What’s up?”

“Do you…” He had to catch his breath, gasping for precious air, sweat running down his face. “…do you have a moment?”

“For you always!” Wade replied with a small laugh, before he actually looked at the other and noted his appearance, “But, Jesus, no offence but…” He looked up and down at him. “…You look terrible.”

Wade had not forgotten the talk they had just a few hours prior, quite the opposite, he had actually dreaded seeing the spectacled brain half. He had not been sure after the talk if he had done more good than bad so he was actually relieved that Mark seemed to have taken his words to heart. But in the same breath, he would not have thought to see Mark in such disarray so soon. He had been counting on the fact that Mark would come to him and talk about his predicament, but seeing him that ruffled and out of breath was another story.

Unless he was missing something, so he added worriedly: “What’s wrong?”

Mark had to take another minute to actually get enough oxygen back into his lungs, before he averted his eyes, noticing the hair falling into his eyes and shaking his head: “I…” He hiccupped. “I don’t just look terrible.”

Wade blinked as Mark pulled his hand to his chest, noticing the blue that was spreading out around the knuckles and narrowing his eyes with an apprehensive edge. Coming closer to inspect the bruise he wanted to ask what Left Brain meant before the red head continued on his own, voice getting faster with every word he uttered.

“I feel that way as well. And that is what is wrong.”

Then Wade saw the tears that gathered in Mark’s eyes and he held his breath.

“Wade… I…”

Panic took over his voice as he started to tremble, his scraped hand crunching up the shirt where his heart was beating under. For a single moment his head pounded so hard he had the need to run away and leave again, not being able to say the words out loud and he heaved for breath.

“I shouldn’t be able to feel,” he then finally pressed out, his eyes wide as he stared at the ground, fingers digging into his shirt and gripping skin, trying to scrap up the place and claw everything out that was under it, “But with every single day…”

Now he was stammering and Wade stepped closer, only for Mark to suddenly back away.

“It is getting worse and worse and I…!”

And here Wade took a hold of the other as he slung one arm around his shoulders, the other prying Mark’s hands from his chest that were still trying to scratch their way through the fabric. The hold on Mark made him close his mouth as he started to keep sobs in, refusing to let more tears fall, as he breathed through his open mouth, burning his throat.

“I know,” Wade then gently uttered, his hand squeezing the other in reassurance.

“It… it hurts.”

Wade pulled the other closer as he nodded: “I get it.” He rubbed his thumb over the bruised knuckles, hushing out. “I kind of had a hunch, you know?”

And then Mark buried himself in the others chest, dry sobs getting lost in the soft fabric as Wade put his arms around his shoulders to keep him steady. He had not thought to get a reaction so fast but he mused he should have known, after so many days of accumulating, there had to be a need to let it all out at some point. He was surprised that Mark was the one to crumble like he did instead of Jack, but maybe it was because the other was more unaware as Left Brain. Not blissfully ignorant but not hyper-focused on the problems either.

“We are so fucked…” murmured Wade as he set his head on top of Mark’s, hugging him tighter.

As time went on, his arms trying to shield Left Brain from the world, he decided to move him into his house as soon as possible, slowly loosening his one arm so he could stand beside Mark and let him lean his weight into his shoulder. As soon as they stood side by side, Wade led him to the living room couch, where he sat him down, Mark unresponsive to what was going on. Taking a breath to piece together what he should do, Wade tried to detach himself only for it to come out fruitless, Mark clinging tightly to his sleeve. He knew Left Brain needed to have something to keep himself rooted to here and now so he held his wrist in return, simultaneously managing to shove his hoodie over his head. One arm and his head became free after a round of wiggling and for a second he shivered as he stood in his plain T-shirt, cursing under his breath. Finally he managed to roll the hoodie down his second arm, settling the clothing into Mark’s lap, able to gently pry his hand from his and instead guide them to the soft fabric.

He waited a second to see if Mark would object, before he walked into the kitchen and got tea out of his cabinet.

After a round of minutes of him heating water, chucking one tea bag in a mug and grabbing honey from his cupboard, he settled the items on the table, sinking into the couch beside Mark. Taking the kettle and pouring a cup, stirring tea bag and honey until the liquid turned a deep yellow, he pushed it into Mark’s hands, explaining softly: “That should calm you down, alright?”

Nodding, Left Brain took a sip and after Wade was sure that he would not let the mug fall he sat beside him, staring at the black screen of his TV. For a moment there was nothing but the hum off the tea pod that still steamed and the smell of chamomile in the air, before Wade took note that Mark was getting quiet, his breath evening.

Just about as he thought the other had fallen asleep he saw him put the mug on the table in front of him, setting the clothing carefully beside it.

“Feeling any better?” Wade then asked, his hand on the couch armrest, hand holding his head up, still glancing down.

Mark just put his hand on his knees as he stretched himself out and murmured: “I… feel more composed now.”

“That’s good,” Wade glanced to the side as he added tiredly, “For a second there I thought you were gonna pass out on me.”

And if he was honest Mark was close to passing out, the world tilting and having to rub his eyes to get the stars away that were flying into his vision. He felt exhausted and uncomfortable, wanting nothing to do but lay down and forget that today had even happened.

“Been a little much, huh?”

That brought Left Brain back and he nodded softly, before he leant forward, knowing if his head hit the back of the couch now he would certainly fall asleep in a second. The motion itself set his hand aflame as well and he stared down at his knuckles, an angry blue colouring them. As he had hit the screen he must have burst some blood vessels, nothing major according to the colour, it would heal soon enough, but it still stung.

More importantly though was that they reminded him of what he had felt while busting them and he swallowed hard.

“Of course I felt before,” Mark then finally admitted, putting out something both of them had known for the longest time, his eyes half lidded as he sighed, “But never on such a scale.” He closed his hand once more as he put it into his lap, rasping out: “Raw emotion…”

Wade bit his lip as he watched the other lean his head down, hands pushing themselves over his eyes as he breathed heavily out, knowing that it was still new ground for Mark to walk on. He honestly could not imagine what it must be like to have no feelings and then to suddenly get them out of nowhere.

“Now I really know what Bo went through… this is unbearable…”

That made Wade sink deeper into the couch as he nodded, realising that Bo must have felt the same way, or at least close to it. If Mark had been in control for the majority of the time and Jack burst in on random times, then the effects must have been the same. It was hard to wrap his mind around it and he watched as Mark sat up straighter, looking at his hand once more.

“Even worse…” Mark then lamented, his voice wavering, “This is what Jack had been through, isn’t it?”

Considering the words Wade realized that Mark was right. Right Brain was always aware of his feelings, but could not move them past Mark to get them to Bo and let them out, so he had struggled all on his own while Bo had intentionally ignored him the whole time.

“Still going through you mean,” Wade specified then, so Mark would see it as well, “He had that load on him the whole time. He’s just starting to understand why he feels that way.”

Mark had to close his eyes as he nodded, heart thudding loudly and realizing he was feeling guilty once more, anger at himself raging in him. He never should have started keeping Jack in check, yes he had been jumpy and yes he had been wild, but that was who he was. He had never said anything when Mark was too quiet or when he was too focused or too thick skulled. He had taken him like he was while Left Brain had started to repress him.

Because he had been trying to keep Bo safe.

Because he had been trying too hard.

God, what the fuck.

And now?

“We are turning into our own personalities,” Mark whispered out, having to say it, his tongue burning to say it.

“Seems like it, yeah,” Wade nodded, as he let his head fall against the couch, Mark following and not heading his own advice of him maybe falling asleep.

Both of them sat there for a while and went through what they knew and had found out.

It was just too much to pick apart fully.

Everything was so messed up.

Then out of nowhere Mark spoke up again.

“We are killing Bo…”

Neither of them said anything at first, the words lingering in the air and suffocating them both. Neither of them could say anything to deny the facts, Mark knowing he was right while Wade just let the words swim through his mind.

“To be honest,” Wade then started, mumbling, whispering into the dark room, “I still can’t wrap my mind around the fact that you two are Bo. Neither of you act like him.”

He shook his head as he corrected himself.

“Sometimes he shines through but just as fast he’s gone again. And both of you are getting along so well with the other villagers, it’s like you are a real part of this town now.”

Mark had to keep a small breath in or he would have let out a sob.

Of course they did not act like him, they were not him and with every day he was getting farther and farther away. And still, Mark could not deny that he was starting to have fun being with Jack, interested in what he did, interested in what he thought. And all around them, all the friends they knew, they maybe did not know them anymore, but they were just as friendly as always, Jack having introduced himself everywhere. It would really be just a matter of time until they would have everything back as it was to when they were Bo and it hurt to think about it.

“Maybe that is why…”

Looking up Mark saw the other tense up, eyes watering and he was speechless at the next words, heart hammering against his chest.

“You… you two are trying so hard… And still nothing remotely works. With every day, as you said, you two change. With every day I see less of Bo. You two are starting to replace him.”

And here he hiccupped.

“And I’m actually starting to be okay with the idea.”

The words moved something so deeply buried that Mark was trying to find the words for it, but could not come up with any, his head empty as he saw the other tearing up even more, tears rolling down like rivers, not being able to stop.

“Maybe that’s how it has to be?” the brunet continued, voice wobbly and weak, “If Bo goes away…” He curled his arms closer, breath hitching. “…And you two can still become happy with that… Would that be so bad?”

Happy.

Would they be happy if Bo went away?

Mark, who had thought he was cried out at this point, let another single tear roll down, the words digging the information into his skull like an angry drill. He noticed dully that he was not feeling anything really, no sadness or anger, it was plain shock maybe or just a dull ache, but he knew that it was the logic that made him fall quiet.

They were not compatible to each other.

Mark was too quiet, too much of an introvert to become what Jack knew was needed for Bo to be happy.

Jack was too wild, too excited to let his dreams fall and work on something they could have been happy with, with something Mark would have become happy with.

They did not hate each other, but their personalities and wishes clashed with each other too much to be healthy.

They were not at war.

They just wanted to be happy.

They were trying too hard.

More tears rolled down as he glanced up at his friend, too much at a loss to find words, as he found the other sobbing into his own arms, curling up. It was obvious how much the other hurt and he murmured helplessly.

“Wade…?”

“I’m sorry…” the other just squeaked out as he tried to catch his breath, snot and saltwater running down his face like a leak, “It just feels like he’s already… already dead.”

Dead.

That is what Bo was, was he not?

Mark had told Jack that as they had argued.

The computer had said it.

Wade just said it.

Bo was essentially dead.

He was dead.

And as Wade now fell back into sobbing, Mark did the only thing he could do, scooting closer and putting his arms around the other. While Wade had found himself on the others chest, he gripped the flannel, sobbing harder while Mark hugged him, his own face not showing any sign of stopping either.

Before either of them could really calm down, another sobbing mess of jumbled words left Wade’s mouth as he pounded with his fist against the others chest in weak jabs.

“I miss him so much…”

Mark nodded.

He knew that feeling.


	21. A Thoughtful Gift

It was not that late when Mark got home.

It was night time and the lamps were on outside, but it was not late.

But he sure felt like as if he had been up for a whole month, his head swimming and his eyes dropping tiredly as he walked down the streets. He had left Wade as soon as they had calmed down, both apologizing for being such messes, but really, neither of them did care. Mark was now aware of how many of his own concerns Wade had swallowed down just to be able to help them and his chest felt hollow because of it.

What a friend.

Wade had never given up on Bo whatever happened. Had pushed him and motivated him. And even in the lowest time of his life he had tried to be positive about everything. Mark had never even considered what he must have felt like while dealing with the situation, he could not even start imagining it.

Mark would never be able to repay him.

Bo would never be able to repay him.

And now Mark was at a loss.

Would they be happier if Bo was left behind? Jack was doing well, he was enjoying himself without any restrictions holding him back. Mark would not put it past him to become anything he wanted when he set his mind to it and he would not hold him back anymore either. He learned from his mistakes. And Left Brain would probably do better alone as well. If he kept everything as it was, he could really enjoy having a quiet life to himself, all would be okay.

But he would miss the other.

Now after that much time spending with Jack so intensely, he has come to enjoy some of the quirks the other displayed. He was still very wild and outgoing but it was somehow endearing to be so excited about every possible circumstance, especially when he was oblivious to the fact. Left Brain had always thought of it as distracting and useless to be walking around with the idea in mind to hug the world. But now it seemed so much more normal, now that he was just watching it happen instead of being in the middle of it.

Maybe it will get easier with time to let the other go.

It had been easy dismissing him the first time, so he could maybe pull it off a second time, indulging himself in his own work, with any kind of work. That was and still is his purpose, so he would probably not miss the other that much, he just needed to distract himself enough.

Or maybe they could still live in one house.

If Bo was going to vanish then they still had his house. It was big enough for two and as long as the other was not about to pack and leave for another country they could just go on like this. Of course they would need to find jobs once more, but that was not too hard for him. As long as it was something challenging and he could work on it for longer periods of time, as well as bring money, then it essentially did not matter what he did. Jack was another card, but as said, he would not tell him what to do anymore.

Never again.

Now, he was not sure what the other would think about it all, but they could work it out.

But then he would have to tell him the truth.

Could he really tell him to his face that they were failing in bringing Bo back? Jack had been so hopeful that they would get fixed if they went for help.

That Bo would get fixed.

Mark shook his head, slapping one hand over his forehead, the headache that was forming not really what he needed right now. It was hard enough to come to terms with himself over a death, but having it to explain it to someone that would burst into tears was just too much on the logical side.

As he stepped through the entrance, glancing at the clock, he decided that he would just throw himself to bed. His head was filled with cotton and he needed to lay down. The Mark of the future could deal with this, at this point he couldn’t care less.

So he went upstairs, failing to notice the lump on the floor in the living room, Right Brain shooting his head up as he heard the footstep creeks.

Jack had been at first worried when he was met with an empty house, waiting patiently for Mark in front of the door, counting the ticks of the clock. There were a lot of times where he had been tempted to reach for the knob, wanting to go look for the other, but told himself that it would be counterproductive. When he had realised that Mark was not coming for a long time, he had sat down beside the TV, thinking of what to do. Left Brain did say that he would probably be home, that meant not necessarily, and if Mark’s mission was so important he did not want to go distract him. And he was sure Mark would come back, he never left him behind for long.

So instead he had taken out the Rubik’s cube once more, trying his luck for the longest time.

He did at first want to find the rules to learn them, the thought of looking for the package the cube had been in with the instructions crossing his mind, for Bo was someone that kept everything he deemed important. But then he would have needed to go look for it in his room, which he definitely would not in a million years. Then he thought about turning the laptop on and trying to find answers in there, but again, if he watched someone else do it first, it would be cheating.

So he tried on his own, failing and failing but never giving up, really wanting to prove himself.

Then he did give up, staring at it with a crossed face.

He wished he were just a tiny bit smarter, he would have loved to show Left Brain that he had been practicing, but the cube was colourful as ever. When he managed to solve one side, he destroyed it in the next attempt of doing another. Staring at the plates he wondered how a man in the 1970ties even came up with this thing, having so much free time to create a toy that was mind boggling to everybody else.

Well, that Rubik’s seemed to be a smart man, he mused, but he was not good at naming stuff.

He should have called it rainbow cube of fried nerves, or maybe cube of endless rotation, because that is exactly how he felt right now. It would be so much easier if he could just pluck the pieced out and set them where they needed to be, puzzles like that were much easier.

Another idea dwindled its way into his head then and he gasped slightly, keeping a hold of the thought.

Maybe not pluck the cubes away, but do something else with them.

Fishing for the pieces of paper in his pockets, he stared at them, before regarding the cube once more.

From that moment on he had been engrossed in his own project, not daring to move his eyes from it, cross legged with his tongue sticking out. He even misheard the door open, but after finishing up the last part on the cube, he noticed Mark going upstairs, his eyes widening shortly. A smile crept onto his face afterwards and with the final touches he stared at the cube, pretty satisfied with how it looked. As he stood up, glancing if Mark was still walking around, he realized everything being quiet, hesitating for a moment. But he was too excited to not show the other his handy work.

Mark did say he was impressed the first time, maybe that would get another smile out of him.

So he made his next steps carefully, his feet carrying him upstairs, close to the railing as he turned left and stared at the door. Last time he had been pretty welcome, so he hoped he would be again, his head finding its way back into the guestroom, looking around. This time it was dark in there and Mark was covered with his blanket, obviously trying to sleep. Jack wondered for a moment if he really should poke around for attention right now, but sneaked closer anyway, leaning over the bed to see if the other was maybe still awake.

Eyes were closed, glasses were on the bedside table and his hair was ruffled, covered to the face with his blanket. His breath was even, but not that deep, and Jack had his hand already on the shoulder, shaking him a bit. As that had no effect he set his hand on the other’s head, brushing some hair strands away.

“Left Brain?” he whispered softly, watching as eyelids fluttered, “Left Brain, are you awake?”

The grumbling did answer Jack’s question already, but he was patient while Mark buried his head deeper into the sheets, not wanting to wake up. He had just laid down and had heard the other come upstairs, his mind too sluggish to greet or even acknowledge him. He even blacked out for a few seconds, the hand in his hair having woken him up with a start. So, the red head knew that he was already found out and moved his head back, mouth stretching shortly into a yawn.

Opening his eyes half way, Mark sighed a bit before answering slowly: “Now I am.”

“Ah, sorry… I didn’t mean to bother,” Jack tried to explain, taking his hand back, but laughing as he corrected, “Well, I kinda did wanna bother you, but you know…”

Mark was already sitting up, not able to contain the edge in his voice, too tired to think straight, rubbing his eyes: “Jack, what do you want?”

And that made the other retreat, his face falling.

Apologizing once more, he turned on his heels, knowing he already had crossed a line: “I’m sorry. I can leave again. You go back to sleep.”

“As if I could…” Mark hushed out, the words Jack had uttered making him feel queasy once more and he waved the other back. As Jack continued dejectedly walking off however, he stretched forward to capture the other’s wrist, pulling him back and adding gently, “Go ahead. What did you bother me for?”

While Left Brain rubbed at his eyes, trying to brush the sleepiness away that was still stubbornly clinging to him, Jack started to step from one foot to the other, slowly getting apprehensive. He was not sure anymore if it was a good idea, Mark’s eyes swollen and his posture slouching, thinking that maybe this was a bad time to show him what he made.

“Uhm…”

“What do you want?” Mark repeated once more, eyes getting more awake as he petted at the sheets.

Taking it as invitation, Jack sat down, his legs laying across the whole bed, bending his knees over Left Brain’s ones, while facing Mark. His eyes averted, for he still was not sure if this was a good idea. He looked tired, he must have worked hard today and he felt bad for it. He should have let him have his rest like he had thought, but at the same time Mark had been much more appreciative of his efforts. Plus he had not send him away, so he was willing to listen to him, something he really wanted to thank him for.

And so Jack could not contain himself as he yelped in a mixture of dread and happiness: “I wanna give you a gift!”

That made the other sit up straighter in a flash, his hand leaving his eye, which he had been covering, and making him blink. For a second he was speechless, before he narrowed his eyes, leaning forward as he stared at Jack with a calculating gaze.

“A gift?”

“Well. It’s more like a try at a gift, because I don’t know if you’ll like it!” Jack sheepishly answered, his grin crooked.

“I see…”

Another slight giggle from the other as he responded: “Not for long! You gotta close your eyes, it’s a surprise!”

Mark just did as he was told, not really having the patience for games. His head was already pounding and he needed to sleep, so if he listened to Jack, he would get his so called gift faster and go faster back to sleep. So he put his hands out, eyes shut, waiting for the other to make his move.

“Whatever, hand it over.”

But Jack’s eyes widened at the cooperation, before he leant closer: “First! You do still remember yesterday, right?”

Mark thought back and sighed. Yes, he remembered his search for the green head and the paper boats and the fact that he had broken down. So he let out an annoyed huff, replying: “Of course I do, what did you expect?”

That made Jack smile broadly as he announced: “Well, look!”

And Mark did, not believing his eyes.

Holding the toy carefully that Right Brain had pushed into his hands, Jack was proudly explaining what he had done to it, Mark already figuring it out on his own.

“I solved the Rubik’s cube! Almost!” He laughed at his own statement, before brushing his hand over the toy. “I just put paper on it! Now every side is one colour!”

Left Brain was still staring at the small toy in his hands, noticing that every single plate was covered with a single coloured piece of paper. He could see the effort, each one of those 54 plates had a perfect layer on top, carefully filled with the colours blue, green, yellow, red, and black, one side kept pure white. He was too speechless to say anything, the work he was holding making him tremble, blinking at it in astonishment.

Jack there while shrugged as his smile faltered a bit in shame: “It’s kinda cheating, but I thought…-“

And now he flinched, his eyes wide as he heard the other bark out a laugh.

A laugh.

An actual, real laugh.

Right Brain was too shocked to really react or do anything as Mark was laughing his heart out, the biggest smile Jack had ever witnessed appearing on his face. The laughter seemed hoarse, for his voice had never been used like this before, but Jack did not care the slightest bit as he announced to himself that this was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard in his life, his heart beating fast and hard in proud realisation that he had done it. He had made the other laugh and there did not seem a stop to it as Mark bend down, still holding the toy as if it was the most precious thing in the world, one hand going to his head. Tears appeared in the corners of his eyes out of sheer happiness and Jack found his ability to move, scooting closer as he copied the grin from the other.

“You actually solved it!” Mark then finally was able to push out through his gasps of giggling.

“Really?!”

“Yes!! With your own creativity!”

Jack had to hold Mark by the shoulder so he would not roll off the bed, having moved to his knees as he asked with shining eyes: “So you like it?”

Mark’s cheeks were wet from laughing, so he just nodded, before squeaking out: “Of course!”

That made Jack hiccup before he started laughing as well, both now in hysteria as their lungs and stomachs started to hurt from the effort, Jack now having to hold Mark by the shoulder to not land face first on the ground while Mark was bending over his legs, back starting to ache. But neither could stop for the longest time, not until they had let it all out, wheezing breaths the only thing left in the room.

“I’m glad you like it,” Jack then smiled softly, cheeks hurting and eyes still watering as he rubbed the back of his hand over them, “Didn’t think it was worth waking you up for.”

“It’s perfect Jack”, Mark admitted, serenely looking at it once more, “You found your own way of solving it and that is absolutely remarkable.”

Then they sat in silence, enjoying the comfortable quiet they had found themselves in. Jack was still in disbelief over the fact that he had made Mark laugh, trying to recreate the memory so he could listen to it on repeat, while the other was staring at the cube, wondering how long it must have taken for Jack to prepare it, and also how he had done it if he had been outside most of the time. Before Mark could actually ask however he yawned, remembering how tired he was and how much more tired he had gotten. He realized that crying and laughing were really exhausting things to the body, and he was not used to them the slightest bit.

So he stretched himself, laying the cube securely beside his glasses, before he announced: “Time for bed.”

But Jack did not respond or move, so Mark glanced back, brow rising as he saw the other staring off across the room to the door and straight at Bo’s one. For a moment he was confused, trying to see what Jack saw, but could not come up with anything, before the green head explained his discomfort.

“I can’t sleep in there.”

“Why?”

A shudder went through Jack and Mark’s face changed from confused to curious, watching as the other scooted away from the door and closer to his side, fidgeting with his hands. His eyes were wide and he was biting his lower lip, shaking his head.

“I’m scared of it,” Jack then tried to explain, the terror apparent in his voice, “It’s Bo’s room and… I can’t use it or… or go even near it, I just can’t.” His voice was now laced with panic. “And when I tried yesterday I woke up and everything in the room was black and things were moving on their own and there was that loud noise and I wanted to leave but I couldn’t and then I knocked into the door and I just…”

“Wait,” Mark held out a hand, as he hushed him, “Breathe.”

Jack opened his mouth to gulp air in, noticing just now that he needed it. But he did not feel any better, as he thought back, the nightmare having left a deep scar and he coughed, Mark petting his back. Then as Jack calmed down he scooted even farther away from the door, Left Brain having to make room for him to hide from it. Looking back at the source of discomfort, Mark could not think of anything that might be upsetting Right Brain in particular and he frowned, Jack now touching shoulders with him, not even daring to look into the direction of the exit.

“What exactly is wrong with the room?” Mark then asked, genuinely perplexed, “Bo lives in the whole house, why is his bedroom so uncomfortable for you?”

Jack shrugged: “I know it doesn’t make sense…”

Another moment of silence.

“Say…” Mark then tilted his head, “The nightmare. What exactly happened in it?”

Mark almost regretted questioning Jack, as he saw the other curl his arms around his chest, as if he was remembering a particular scene, his eyes glassy. But to his relief Jack just shook his head, starting anew, telling Mark about him wanting to go back to the living room, not being able to move, the pitch black darkness, the electricity, the moving squares and the last flash of light that made him wake up. While he explained, Mark had to note that Jack was talented at telling stories, using his words to colour in the blank spaces when explaining his scenes and he almost forgot that Jack was describing something he had experienced and not just read somewhere out of a book.

It did sound surreal, but he would not have guessed otherwise really. Right Brain was imaginative and had a lot of practice seeing the world around him in a particular fantastic state. So a nightmare of that kind was curiously very empty to what Mark had thought would bother Jack. It only had been a room that had trembled, no monsters or creatures of any kind. It was not like the walls had been bleeding or that Jack had been in eminent danger.

Parts of the wall had been crumbling, but maybe that is really all that it was.

Maybe that was the hint that underlined the fact that they were falling apart.

While Mark figured it out, Jack feels the consequences.

Bitter bail came into his mouth at the thought of maybe now telling Jack the truth.

Guiding the conversation into that direction was a puzzle all by itself. First of all he could not just start with telling him that Bo was dead, that would put the other in despair, and after him having just told a deep settled nightmare, it would be cruel.

No, he could not do that to him, he had to ease him into the idea somehow that they would stay like this forever. But how? Maybe another metaphor would help, but what would work? Or maybe he should just slowly introduce him to the idea in the next few coming days. Maybe Jack will ask on his own about his progress and he could then lead the words into an explanation. Explaining that they had been apart for too long and that they had reformed their brains to the point that sewing it back together was impossible. He could tell him that he could decide on his own now, tell him the positive points of the whole endeavour.

And he could apologize.

Yes, they both had messed up. Jack had been non-cooperative, dreaming his dreams, but if Mark had not started being so strict, then Jack would not have needed to break out like he did and go for help. They both had not thought their actions through.

But while Jack had done everything in his power to fix what he had done in the best way he knew how, having fun and wanting to include the other, Mark had been brooding and thinking, not accepting the solutions that had been laid in front of him. He had been smart enough to realise that Jack’s words ringed true, of course, but he had ignored him like he always had.

He needed to apologize for that.

Shaking his head, he decided that this was not the time, one glance at the green head telling him that the other was too absorbed in being terrified then being able to talk about Bo, Mark’s stomach making a flip. He had drowned out the other yet again and he wanted to hit himself over the head, Jack obviously in need of a reassurance and not a dead silent room into which he had just pushed and presented his fears in.

But Right Brain did not seem to mind as he let out a breath.

“I can’t sleep in there,” he repeated once more.

“Why haven’t you said anything sooner?” Left Brain decided to ask gently, an eyebrow lifted.

Jack gulped, before he ashamedly admitted: “You were working here and I didn’t think that feeling uncomfortable would be enough of a reason. You… You usually don’t listen when it’s not much of a deal.”

Now Mark averted his eyes, flinching as he had just done it again, dismissing the other while thinking about possibilities. And he understood with a start why Jack had questioned him on why he had taken the laptop to the other room. Not to ask what he was doing with it but to ask why he was using the room instead of trading it. He should have noticed it before, when Jack decided to stay on the couch instead of going to sleep. He had been avoiding the room by choice.

Left Brain had been so focused on everything else, that he had brushed the other off once more.

How many times did he do that already?

Too many times.

So this time Mark was about to change that, standing up slowly, still a bit dizzy from the day’s events, Jack watching him with a startled, worried expression.

“Well. I am done with working and I guess there isn’t much reason for me to stay here,” Mark concluded, stretching himself once more and brushing his flannel, knowing that it was a bad idea to sleep in it but just being too tired to care, “I feel in any room comfortable, you just stay here and I’ll take Bo’s one.”

Jack hesitated: “I don’t want to chase you away, that’s not fair.”

“You have much better reasons as I do to keep this room. I don’t need to work anymore so actually my reasons are nullified,” Mark explained, picking up his glasses and the cube, smiling back at the other, “I really don’t mind.”

That eased Jack’s shoulders, as he sighed and closed his eyes. He was honestly just glad that he had an excuse to not go back, his heart easing up on thumping loudly in his ears, watching as Mark was making his way to the door.

“Thank you,” the green head laughed gratefully, “It means a lot that you listened.”

“You’re welcome,” Mark responded, his own chest heavy, slowly closing the door, “Goodnight Jack.”

“Goodnight, Left Brain.”

And in the same moment they uttered the same words, a bittersweet mix of the voices turning into a familiar one.

“Sleep well.”


	22. Teamwork Is Easy, Love Is Hard

Jack was so used to sleeping on the carpet by now that he had rolled off the mattress in the early hours, his head hitting the ground with a hiss.

Rubbing the sore spot, hands clamped around the pounding area, he looked upside down out of the window, watching as the day woke up as well. Bird chirping and wind howling, the breeze moving the three branches that knocked into the glass, greeted him. The light filtered through pink and orange clouds, some stars still visible, as Jack let out a small sigh at the sun kissing his cheeks. The room was still dim, he could see dust fly through the air and he tried to grasp the particles with his hand, missing them every single time. He enjoyed the warmth that was emitting from the light, for he was sure that the autumn air would cool down more and more, getting colder and colder with every minute and his shirt being the bare minimum of keeping him safe from it.

He shivered.

While lying there in his sleepy state, rubbing his eyes with a big yawn he realized with some blinking what day today was and he wheezed out a shocked noise.

Soon after he scrambled his way out of the covers that somehow had entangled him in their grip and he dashed out of the door, straight up to Bo’s one. There he stood a second, not daring to open it, before his heart made the leap and he knocked on the wood.

He could be patient when the situation called for it.

So he knocked and knocked time and time again, not daring to step in but determined to wake the other. He was not sure how long he had persisted really, but then he was finally rewarded with a small grumbling noise, then a knock of something hitting something else, followed by a soft “Ow”. Then there was shuffling, heavy footsteps coming closer, before the red head stood in the door, hand over his elbow and rubbing it, his eyes searching the green head.

“Yes?” he slurred, the bright red strands standing up on his head everywhere and gaze confused.

“Good morning!” Jack announced happily.

“Good morning,” Mark drowsily repeated.

“You know what day today is?”

Mark had to think hard about it, his mind sloshing between his ears.

Then he said: “Festival day.”

“Ye up for it?”

For a second Mark was about to say that he would have loved to go back to sleep now, burying his face into his pillow and possibly suffocate himself for the final release of death, but the face the other made, made him rethink, choosing on saying: “As soon as I am aware of my surroundings.”

Jack nodded: “’Course!”

And with that the green head went downstairs, Mark standing forlorn in the doorway. For a moment he considered just going back and falling into bed, certain the other would knock again if leave was urgent. But while he was waking up he was once more confronted with the menace of a thought that he had to tell Right Brain what he had found out.

He wished there was an off button in his brain.

But he had no means of changing things.

So instead he stepped into the kitchen and slapped Jack’s hand softly away from the coffee machine with a huff.

“Not today. You don’t get coffee today.”

“Why?”

“Because I do not want a repeat of yesterday, thank you very much.”

“Oh,” Jack mumbled, before nodding, “Right! Can I drink something else instead?”

“We have water.”

“Can I drink milk?”

Left Brain considered it, before he dropped his gaze down and responded: “If I see you put one spoon of chocolate powder in there, I’ll throw it out the window.”

“You wouldn’t!”

Mark glanced back to the machine, as he petted Jack on the head, mumbling: “Dare to test me?”

“Nah,” Jack smiled at the contact, “Not today.”

And so they sat down, Mark staring into his half emptied coffee mug, wondering what to do, while the other had taken the todays newspaper, looking at the pictures. Right Brain was probably at the comic page, trying not to laugh out loud, assuming by the noises he was keeping in. Left Brain was glad however that the sheets were blocking the view, for he really did not want the other to watch him too closely now.

Mark had noticed the changes in him and the other and neither of them could control those changes anymore.

So if Jack would have looked up now and considered his face, he would have noticed the worry radiating off him, the apprehension, the sheer blatant lie of the poker face Mark was hiding himself behind. One question of “Are you okay?” would probably break Mark at this point. And to some extend he hated himself for having lost that cold façade, it made things harder, harder to tell the truth without hurting anybody in the process.

The old Left Brain would have just told Jack what fact is.

Now he could not bring himself to cross the line.

So he sat quietly, hoping that Jack, even though he was learning and was connecting dots more and more over time, did not notice his change too much. He must already have an inkling that Mark had changed, had told him that he felt the worry seep from him and that he was acting huffy, but he saw it as something positive, the laughter from yesterday an example.

Which reminded Mark of his throat, as he put one hand around it.

It had felt good laughing out like that, uncontrollable happiness breaking out of him. He had not thought a single second about stopping himself, too swept up in the moment. Now it hurt, his voice cords screaming at him for the abuse, but he did not really care for them. He was unsure on why the cube had made him so happy in the first place. Maybe it was the fact that he had been at an absolute loss at Wade’s beforehand. Maybe it was because he had felt so helpless and useless that he had needed a laugh, something to just shake his thoughts out of his head.

Or maybe it was because Jack had tried to solve it and came to the conclusion to help himself out. Or it had been the precision Jack had put into it, every layer of paper having been put in its place carefully. Or maybe it was because Jack gave it to him as a gift, as a token of appreciation.

To make him happy with it.

And now Mark could only sit here, trying to think of anything besides telling Right Brain everything he knew and sipping his coffee.

“Top of the mornin’ to ya.”

Mark lifted his head: “Didn’t you already greet me this morning?”

Laughter was the answer, as Jack put the paper down, tilting his head: “Yeah I did, but this is much better!” He pointed to the newspaper and Mark briefly threw a look at it. “That one sounds much more like wishing a good morning than just good morning!”

Mark had to look again and saw someone on a picture waving at the camera, the text beside it explaining the photo. Luckily Mark could decipher the words from his perspective somewhat and found the greeting fairly fast. It was a nice scene and the words were black bolted, so it was no wonder it had captivated Jack so instantly.

“Why am I not surprised?” Mark softly replied behind his cup, rolling his eyes, “Of course you would like something as expressive as that.”

Jack just flashed a bright smile, before he continued: “Well. Today is pretty important! So it deserves an expressive, important greeting, right?”

“I assume you want to greet everybody like this now, right?”

“Mmmmaybe?”

“I see,” Mark shook his head once more. “For that we would have to leave the house.”

“Are you ready to leave the house?”

Now a chuckle worked itself out of Mark as he nodded and Jack practically leaped up to his feet, urging the other to move faster.

Walking down the familiar streets, Mark was actually surprised on how mellow the green head acted today. He was sure to notice that Jack tried to keep some excitement in, still loud, still happy, but as he walked beside his other half, only breaking out when he thought was really needed. Even though it was festival day and the people were walking shoulder to shoulder down the pathways and streets, Jack did not seem to have the need to run off by himself. He rather tugged at Mark, making him aware of something, before he was greeting the person or walking off to see the thing he was interested in.

Which was honestly still often, but Mark regarded the other with parts fondness, parts worry at the way he acted.

God, he wished he were as unaware as Right Brain.

Still, it was better that he was aware of it and not then the other way around.

He was just grateful for the distractions the other brought, making him think of other things and helping unknowingly how to cope with the situation at hand.

So in his tries to distract himself further, while Jack pointed and talked, tugging him here and there, Mark was also sure to notice that people were marching up to the church, his curiosity getting the better of him.

“I see a lot of villagers walking up the path. Do you know why?”

Jack snapped his head to the side, considering the pathway and he grinned softly.

“They build a stage up there for the autumn festival. It’s like laughing the cold months in the face,” Jack provided then, a small bounce in his step, “People can perform whatever they want and it doesn’t matter what it is. Some are going to dance, some are doing a theatre, the children told me it was going to be the big surprise! Sounds exciting, doesn’t it?”

Mark could definitely hear the excitement out of the other, but he was having a hard time to agree.

“It is quite an undertaking and probably very awarding at the end of it,” he choose to say, “An audience to perform something to is nice to have. Especially if you are proud of the thing you are going to show.”

“Right? I think it’s great!” he agreed, shooting his arms up, “A lot of people decided to take part, you know? So it will be even greater!”

Of course Mark picked up on the tone Right Brain explained the situation to him and he was reluctant to touch upon it. But he also did not want to ignore the other like so often, his past decisions weighing him down, as he made the leap.

“Are you planning on showing something?”

But to his surprise Jack averted his eyes, shrugging: “Eh… I did play with the idea but I don’t think I could show anything that special.” He went silent, before he continued with a sigh: “At first I wanted to ask you, if you wanted to join me, but I got cold feet. You aren’t that fond of stuff like that anyway.”

“I see.”

“But watching the others will be fun too!” Jack smiled brightly, detecting the gloom in the other and trying to fend it off, “The children will be the last and showing off the lights, so that will be something we helped with!”

But Mark was silent, brooding, as Jack left him to it. In that state he was usually not to reach and he was fairly certain that whatever he was thinking about was more important then what he had to say. At this point he was okay with that quirk of his, mumbling in his state and not really watching where he was going, too deep in his thoughts to see the big picture. Usually Mark stood still whenever he went into his mind, but this time Jack needed to tug him around bushes and other obstacles, now understanding why Mark was always so irritated with him when he walked off.

But Jack was smirking as Mark shook himself out of it, as if he had not noticed the change around him and instead snapped his eyes to the green head.

“I might have an idea.”

“For what?”

“For the stage.”

That baffled Jack.

“What do you mean, you have an idea for the stage?” he enquired, head tilting and confusion blatantly written on his face.

“As I said,” Mark responded, suddenly a smile growing on his face, “Or at least I remember something Bo wrote that could be a good thing to perform.”

Jack hesitated, before he replied: “You are serious with this?”

“When am I ever not serious about anything I do?”

Jack did not even need to think about that, he already knew with absolute certainty that Mark was always serious about every little detail and he would never joke around over any matter.

“Fair,” Jack responded finally, “That’s fair.” Then he hesitated once more, as he scratched his cheek, meekly adding: “Isn’t it stealing when we take something Bo wrote?”

“Stealing?”

“We aren’t him and taking an idea from another person and using it is stealing, right?”

“Putting it like that-.”

“And… well, they are pretty old?” Jack shuffled his feet where he stood, “They aren’t really that good, I don’t know if he would be proud of those anymore. Opinions change over time and ah… I don’t like them much anymore either.”

“Well,” Mark then mumbled, understanding Jack’s concern, “How about we write something together then, before everything starts? Something completely new. A whole new song for example?”

Blinking was the answer, Jack not believing his ears.

“Now?”

“Yes, now. Why not?”

“No, I mean. Do we even have time to actually write anything?”

“The presence on the stage doesn’t have a countdown, does it? So even if it is something small it would still be accepted.”

At this point the green head was just speechless, as he tried to ask more questions but none of them sounding like the right thing to say. It was unbelievable to think that Mark was actually considering to perform something with Jack, something in front of a large group of people and, even worse, with no preparation time whatsoever. Mark hated not being prepared, he hated socialising, but he was willing to put that all aside to help Jack out.

Both were quiet and Jack stared at the ground, heart pounding before looking up hopefully.

“You are okay with that?” He almost laughed as he was aware that he was relieving a déjà vu, but needing to make sure. “You are okay with doing something I wanna do?”

And Mark’s smile grew bigger.

“Absolutely.” Then he pointed to Jack’s pockets as he announced: “Hand me over your sheets and pencil, we will have to make every minute count. I guess you can let your imagination run wild now.”

It was an absolute underestimation to say that Jack did not do exactly that.

After what seemed for them like minutes but were actually hours Mark had written three full papers of neatly organized notes, Jack looking over them and approving of them here and there. While adding new phrases, Mark corrected them once more, a flowing pass from one to the other. Jack was getting more and more excited with every line they acquired while Mark was busy with filling the fourth page. Neither of them noticed that they were walking in between a mass of people now, some of them looking over their shoulders or walking by, fascinated at their conversation, their gesticulations wide and expressive.

Until Samantha crossed their paths, not noticing them, but Jack even more so.

Mark stumbled as he was held back by the hem of his shirt, the sheets almost fluttering out of his hands, and he looked down at the other with a confused expression. Before he could ask what was going on, the other had pulled him even farther away, hiding behind a stand and then behind a wall to a side street. Mark puffed his cheeks as he let out a huff, straightening out his shirt, petting it off from dust, before he blinked.

“What’s wrong?”

Jack did not answer for the longest time, just staring off down the street, so Mark followed his gaze, pocketing their notes and trying to see what had made the other stop. As he was walking out of the hiding spot to see better, he was pushed back behind the wall again. Frowning irritated, he relented shortly after and just stuck his head out. But searching for something he did not know the shape, form or name of was difficult, so he tilted his head, glancing down at the green head and asking once more.

“What could make you so nervous all of the sudden?”

“Nervous?” Jack squeaked, caught off guard by the hand that placed itself on his shoulder, letting go of the wall, where he had hold onto white knuckled, and turning to the red head in a swift motion, “Who’s nervous? I’m not nervous. Are you nervous?”

“No…?” Mark blinked, stepping back.

“Well. Neither am I! Why even? Not nervous at all, who’s saying I’m nervous?”

Standing there with his hands under his armpits, shoulders up to his head, Jack blinked up at the other and Mark was starting to frown as he moved his hand away again. It was obvious that he was uncomfortable, so Mark looked around once more, trying to make sense of Jack’s behaviour. At first he thought that maybe Jack had seen something actual terrifying, or maybe something that reminded him of Bo’s room, but no matter how long he stared he could not make head or tail of the situation.

Then he saw dusty, blonde hair appear beside a stand and he hesitated, looking first down at Jack, then back, before crossing his arms.

A smirk danced across his lips.

“Are you nervous about the female?”

Jack, who had his eyes trained on the floor, pulled a face: “If you say it like that it sounds super gross.”

“Alright then,” Mark lifted an eyebrow, “Are you nervous because of Samantha?”

Another quick gaze back and Jack let his shoulders fall, averting his eyes to the ground once more.

“Kinda?” he then tried to explain, “Well. I do kinda like her? Bo always liked her some way or another and even now she was incredibly nice and helped me out a lot with a thing. It’s not like I like-like her, I’m not sure, I don’t know why but she just seems different and I would be interested to do more? But…”

Mark tilted his head, as he watched Jack turn his head to her, Right Brain’s cheeks tinted red in a blush.

“She’s like the glorious sun and I am just the dirty earth.”

Wincing, Mark blinked, Wades words banging against his skull, as the other let is hands fall from their position.

“But I guess it doesn’t really help when I start avoiding her if I want to get her to know in that way… I’m being very awkward and stuff, huh?”

Mark needed a moment as he put a hand to his chin, pondering with a frown how to proceed, before replying: “Our evolutionary purpose is to repopulate so in any case it would get even more awkward as it already is, I can assure you of-”

“You’re being super gross right now,” Jack interrupted him, flapping with his hands in front of his face, his blush darkening, “Please stop.”

“Well,” Mark continued, not able to brush off the small, smug smile appearing on his face, “My job is to gather data to see if she’s a possible mate while you go and make steps towards her. Figuratively and literally. From what I can tell she could be a good choice and your worry would eradicate as soon as you spent time with her, which would give me a chance to analyse the situation further.”

“Easier said than done…” Jack just mumbled softly, before he frowned, his head snapping up, “You aren’t saying I shouldn’t go over to her?”

“Why would I?”

Jack blinked a bit baffled, before he answered: “Well, uh… I thought you don’t care much for… well…” he stuttered to a halt, before tilting his head helplessly, “I don’t know, love?”

“That is correct. I care about survival to say it bluntly. Love is an emotion,” Mark continued, scoffing at first, before he shrugged, “Love… powerful and just as unpredictable. It’s more of a hindrance then a blessing considering my function in this whole endeavour. But, as it is, love is in its various forms important and needed.”

“It is?”

Mark nodded at Jack’s fascinated expression, a sudden need in him coming up to explain further: “Of course, as mentioned, it has many forms and it manifests in just as many. Naturally there are other key emotions, and those can differ as well, but in this case we should focus on the one that makes you turn three shades redder whenever you see her.”

“Knock it off!” Jack bleated, Mark trying to stifle his chuckling, “This is important!”

“Love is, as said, unpredictable. So you could love a female or a male or a number of people, maybe not even people if we cover the whole spectrum and it would never be the same. You are never in absolute control over who and what you love, over how much you love them, but time and dedication can change those feelings.”

He stopped shortly.

“Of course someone with the opposite-“

“Please don’t!”

“Alright,” the red head shrugged, enjoying himself way too much in Jack’s opinion.

Then Mark sighed a bit.

“I, as the left brain side, understand the proceedings of love, I understand the chemical reasons, the hormones, the neurons. But acting out on them, that I cannot, it would be preposterous of me to initiate any advancement. That is why it does not seem as if I care.” Then he smiled at the other, “You however, even if you do not understand why you feel the way you feel, you can use them to get into action, to make conversation happen, to get closer.”

“Huh…”

Jack was not sure what to make of that information, as he stole another glance towards the girl as she walked out of their vicinity, probably to help out somewhere else. Considering what he had heard, Jack did have a chance, Mark did not seem to be absolutely against everything. He seemed okay actually, and really, being awkward around someone you liked was normal. It was his job so he was on the right track, was he not?

But another thought crossed him once more.

“Well. I can’t really start the advancement thing now, right?” Jack asked carefully, still not sure what he was getting into, staring up at the other, who was busy following Samantha leaving as well, “That would be weird, right?”

“Weird why?”

“Well, we aren’t Bo,” Jack breathed out, Mark’s words drilling into his skull again and making him feel sick, “She would probably be weirded out if I start talking to her and then go on with Bo, wouldn’t she?”

At that Mark flinched once more and he narrowed his brows, already seeing the complication Jack was fighting with.

And the fact that Mark holding back information was holding Jack back again.

For the umpteenth time.

And the way Jack was curled into himself, unsure on his next step, Mark swallowed dryly, trying to force himself to actually tell Right Brain that he did not have to worry about that. That Samantha was not going to feel weird, when he started talking to her.

Because Bo would never be able to ask her anything.

But instead he answered: “Right now you can just go and talk to her, nothing more, nothing less. You could, let’s put it like that, scout ahead and give Bo an advantage so to speak. Consider, if you do something wrong now, you can always try again when Bo is back.”

And here Jack started to straighten himself out again: “You think so?”

“I am always here as well, if you need some advice, like conversation topics or there like. I could pick apart with you how every interaction goes, if that calms you down. If I remember correctly, you are still in charge as well. Literally nothing is stopping you.”

That silenced Jack into another thoughtful state, his bottom lip sucked in as he tried to rule out possibilities.

Well, it was not wrong to be friendly and he was sure that she would be nice enough to point out if he was annoying her in any way. He did not want to step over boundaries he never had touched on before, everything was pretty new to him and he was not sure where to start. Maybe he had already done a good job, just going on like before but without the thought creeping around that he was doing something forbidden.

Mark did give him permission.

But.

“Actually, I don’t want to be in charge anymore.”

Mark was already opening his mouth to retort, but Jack waved with his hands to elaborate.

“It was nice being in charge, don’t understand me wrong! It was fun saying where to go and not think about stupid stuff for a while. But, I don’t think I’m actually really fit for it. I… I do get distracted a lot and I don’t often make responsible decisions.” Now Jack smiled, as he pointed at Mark and added gently: “So I would like you to be back in charge actually. You know what is important and you know what to do all the time. I think that works better.”

The words felt like another stab into Left Brain’s gut.

For a moment they could only stand once more, Mark needing time to process what he had heard, thoughts running wild.

Then he shook his head.

“I’m willing to argue that.”

Putting his hand back on Jack’s shoulder, the green head stared up at the other with confusion, Mark smiling gently. Right Brain would not have thought to ever feel that accomplished in his life at a simple touch but he sure did as he felt the squeeze the other gave him, his focus only on Left Brain.

And Mark, he searched for words, as he then finally explained:

“The things I said, about you losing time and spending it uselessly… I was wrong. The thing you said in the forest, about me not knowing anything at all, you were absolutely correct. I may know things that Bo learned and I can require and keep information more easily, but I was wrong in thinking I knew better about what would Bo do good. I was wrong about everything in that case for the longest time. Maybe I make responsible decisions, but I forget the most important things in life because of it.”

“To actually live, you mean?” Jack provided, before snapping his mouth shut, covering his mouth at his own response.

“Precisely,” Mark chuckled instead, the weight suddenly lessening on his shoulders by that response, “You are the one that lives. And he needs to live. I can’t provide him with that, but you sure can.”

Jack had to smile at that, before he let it fall.

“But… I always mess up,” he honestly voiced, “If I am good at being alive but suck at surviving and you are good at being able to survive but suck at being alive… What are we gonna do?”

Just in that moment as he had uttered the words, Mark was huffing out a silent laugh that left him shaking, Jack tilting his head even further in confusion. For a moment he was worried he had upset the other with his dumb question, his hand already hovering to take the hand away from his shoulder, but was then even more abashed as the other was brushing tears from the corners of his eyes, still laughing.

“We both really “suck” at the other’s talent,” Mark let out, “But we can balance them out.”

Jack blinked once, then twice, making sense of the words, not really understanding what the other was meaning to say.

“Balance out?” he stuttered, “How? Someone needs to be in charge, right?”

And Mark shook his head, another laugh falling from his lips.

“It’s teamwork, Jack. That is all that it is. We both are in charge at the same time.”

To say the least, Right Brain was speechless.

He would not have ever thought or hoped as far that Mark would change his attitude to the point he would let him on the reins again. When he had said he did not want to be in charge anymore, he would have thought the other would take his offer without batting an eyelid.

But this was much better.

As Mark smiled brightly at him, Jack’s thoughts tumbled and he wondered what exactly had happened for the other to give him another chance. Maybe it was from the point on where they had distance, where they had made decisions on their own. Or maybe it was when he made him do things with him, easing him into ideas and activities he was not fond of but could grow to like.

Or maybe it was just the fact that it was easier to work together after having seen how it was to be without the other.

Whatever the case, before Mark could add anything to his words, Jack was slapping his hand to his forehead, laughing and doubling over while Mark petted him gently on the back. But the green head had a hard time calming down, not being able to believe that Mark was considering teamwork, to work with him instead of having to fight for a place.

The solution was easy, so incredibly easy.

It had taken him days to understand what he had wanted, that he had just wanted to be able to tell his thoughts. Days to get through to the other, never having the courage to point out that he did not want to be in charge anymore, but wanted Mark to be included in every decision he made and to be included in his decisions.

It had been so hard, but now it was so easy, now that the other had it said it out loud in a word that suddenly made sense.

“You… you really mean it?”

“You sound surprised,” Mark then mumbled, his face trying to stay steely but ultimately failing and crumbling into a forlorn smile, as the other lifted his head and shaking it.

Mark watched Jack laugh painfully now, bending to the ground, knees tucked in while the red head kneeled beside him. Neither of them could really say anything for a while, the situation laughable really for the amount of time they had needed to get here.

“I’m just glad you listen to me now!”

And with that, Jack jumped up and fell around the others neck, clinging to him as he let out another small laugh, while Mark awkwardly returned the hug, still not used to so much contact. He felt horrible for lying to the other, but he had to say he felt slightly better after having this heart to heart.

As he nodded against the others shoulder, trying to even his breath out, both realized that they were finally on one page.


	23. Lampenfieber

Both brain halves stared at the closed wardrobe in Bo’s room, Mark towards it with a face of excitement while Jack was still standing by the door, his face showing nothing but apprehension.

After their talk, where they both had finally ended up with shaking some sense into themselves, Mark had slowly tugged Jack along by his wrist, away from the side street they had been hiding in and had made the proposal of preparing their performance.

That the question of who being in control was over and done with made Jack feel light headed, not leaving Mark’s side for anything. He was not sure why, if the happiness over his success had just meddled with his brain or if it was just exhaustion that had laid itself over him, but he felt more tired than ever before. He had to say, the days had gone by incredibly fast and he felt almost melancholic for this was the last day of the festival, tomorrow starting with cleaning everything up.

However he had realized they were not moving towards the church and promptly discovered after that he was being led towards home.

“You just said we’d go towards the stage?” he had asked in disappointment, only for Mark to chuckle.

An hour ago he would not have ever dreamed to see the other open up so easily, a clear streak of fondness overwhelming him and Jack had felt his chest size up with pride. The confusion immediately was replaced with giddiness as the red head had replied to his question with a good natured: “We need instruments, can’t perform music without gear now, can we?”

But now Jack could almost physically feel the weight of that information settle on him, standing on the threshold of Bo’s room, peeking his head in, fingers gripping the frame. His whole body was locking up and could only watch the red head with a worried undertone as he unceremoniously opened the door to the wardrobe with a hearty yank. Dust flew out by the swift movement and both jumped a bit in surprise, before Mark coughed and waved his hand to get rid of it. Afterwards he picked up the keyboard nestled in the corner and almost triumphantly stood back to his full height, holding it under his arm.

Jack shuddered for the tiniest second, the sight churning something in his gut, before he realized the other was waiting.

“Go ahead now, all yours.”

Jack just blinked a bit, before he cautiously stepped closer, flinching as both his feet hit carpet, soon settling beside his counterpart, only then to let his eyes rest on the instrument in front of him.

The sight made his heart rapidly beat underneath his skin.

The dust from earlier had been entirely swept away by the breeze and in the daylight the instrument looked even more battered, every single scar visible. Faded ones, new ones, they were all there, the colour of the wood bleached by the sun in some parts, splintered from accidental falls to the floor and smacking into walls on other parts. In the dark he had not realized, even if time had its toll on it and how shredded it must look to anybody else, how beautiful he still thought it was, eyes glistening a bit as he had to supress another shudder.

Mark had only so much time to react as Jack, instead of taking the guitar, like he thought he would, grabbed the wardrobe door and closed it with a small, hard shove, the sound not loud but still forceful enough to make both feel a tingle up their spine.

“May I ask what you are doing?”

Still dumbly looking at the now closed wardrobe, Mark craned his neck towards Jack who was pressing his hands against the flat surface. His face was absolutely blank and when he turned his head, something desperate settled in his blue eyes, Mark blinking in astonishment.

“I don’t want to mess up.”

Mark dipped his head to the side.

“Neither of us have practised in a while, that is true.”

“Right.”

“But I do believe that we aren’t that rusty.”

“It’s been 8 years, Mark.”

He nodded slowly at that, only then to point to the wardrobe once more.

“One reason more to take the weary thing out of its confinement.”

And Jack felt his chest heave with a sigh, as he turned his head fully to the other, voice strained.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I am,” he replied, only then to rephrase, “I won’t judge you for not wanting to play. If it eases your mind, then we don’t need the guitar. But I am also okay with you playing it. It’s your choice.”

And that made Jack almost deflate where he stood, the boulder on his shoulders lifted and leaving room to breathe. The word “choice” dwindled its way through his head and he absolutely adored it, that Mark gave him the choice. He felt almost powerful as the chains in his head fell loose, his legs that had felt like jelly suddenly making him bounce up and down where he stood.

And with a last glance he almost ripped the door out of its hinges as he leaped at the instrument and tugged it to his chest, his face brighter than the sun.

Which was a good thing, because when they were walking towards the stage, the sky was darkening, slowly but steadily. Around them the lights turned on and the people were starting to get giddier, more excited and the energy that bubbled in the green head was fitting nicely in with the atmosphere. Everybody was in their own world, happily talking and exchanging their experiences of their day, so both brain halves were quite surprised as Wade suddenly appeared beside them, interested in what they were talking about.

Noting the instruments in their arms after he stepped closer, he almost did a double take, his face filled with wonder.

Jack did not hesitate for a second to jump forward as he greeted his friend first with a sloppy hug, then a loud “Top of the morning to ya!”, then shoving the paper into his face, the one in the red hoodie laughing and trying to brush the sheets away and to understand what the other was excitedly stuttering about.

One glance at Mark and back to Jack he smiled even brighter, as the green head announced that they were going to perform on stage.

“Really?!”

Mark joined the fray: “We will, as you can clearly see by our choice of baggage. It is a last minute improvisation, but I do believe we made the best out of it.”

“Alright, I need to see that!” Wade announced, happiness evident in his face, Mark seeing a hint of wet sheen in his eyes, as he softly shoved the notes back into Jack’s hands that were still fluttering around his nose, “No spoilers please, I want to get surprised.”

“Of course, yeah!” Jack retreated, covering the notes and pressing the guitar to his side as Mark good naturedly rolled his eyes.

“It is nothing too special, we did just come up with it in the last few hours.”

“But it’s gonna be fun!”

Wade chuckled as he responded: “Honestly, I’m just looking forward to what you two planned.” Then he leant back, addressing the green head. “By the way, you need to sign up for it. Not that you two won’t get in anymore.”

“Uh, I didn’t know that!” Jack blinked before he snapped with his fingers, “I’ll just go and tell the one responsible for this whole thing that we are doing something!”

“You can go tell Teddy by the way. She’s probably around the backstage area, we did bring some food and stuff, so she’s attending to that as well,” Wade provided, before he asked, “What are you guys even planning on doing exactly? What kind of song?”

“A song!”

“Well, yes but-?”

“You said it should be a surprise!”

Wade stared up at Mark, who shrugged with a helpless smirk.

“Well, I guess then you better find her fast! Now you got me all curious!” Wade shooed the other, Jack saluting, before dwindling his way through the crowd, the two left behind staring after him.

Heaviness settled in between them.

“You didn’t tell him, yet, did you?”

“No.”

Wade put a hand to the bridge of his nose, as he sighed.

“Why?”

“I can’t.”

“What the fuck you mean you can’t?”

Mark was quiet as he stared at the ground, his hands brushing over the short end edge of the keyboard, the instrument balanced on top of his shoes so it would not touch the ground, while Wade waited with a slight irritated look on his face. For a moment he was about to lose patience with the red head, before he could see the other close his eyes solemnly.

“Jack… is so hopeful,” he then said, “He’s naïve and hopeful and is trying his best and just… how can I take that away from him?”

“You don’t want to hurt his feelings.”

“After all this time Jack’s brain should have already accustomed itself to surviving alone. He should be more than capable to understand at least his feelings by himself. But Wade… he doesn’t, he has no idea.”

The brunet gulped: “Got an example?”

“I had to explain to him how love works.”

“Jesus Christ,” Wade mumbled, hands over his eyes, “Jesus fucking Christ.”

“My sentiment right here.”

“But… you are working on it, aren’t you?” Wade then pointed out, “You are going to tell him about being split apart forever at some point, right?”

“I will have to. And then I will need to help him stand on his own feet.”

“It’s not like he will fail at that. He does feel the right emotions. He just doesn’t understand some mechanics and as soon as he learned the logic behind them he will be good to go. It’s not like he’s broken or anything.”

That statement was not really reassuring, Mark having a hard time to see the positive light in the whole situation. But not wanting to weight down the other, he just nodded, agreeing with him. Maybe he just had to start thinking positive, Jack was already starting to ask questions and was becoming more aware of his own presence around others. If they never got Bo back, he had to start thinking critically about the world around him, it would help him in the long run, and he would surely catch on soon enough. Mark was already accepting of the fact that he was feeling emotions, so accepting that Jack would start to think on his own was not so hard, was it?

Somehow he still felt like an absolute failure.

His chest was so tight all of the sudden, he felt as if he was going to explode, eyes suddenly burning as he sighed out. He had thought the first assault of guilt had been terrible, but feeling like a failure in every sense of the word, was just too much. Facing Jack meant facing his mistakes, everything he had ever done to him flashing in his skull like an angry reminder. He could have been so much better, he could have reacted differently and he could have done more out of the situations they had been in. If he had just left the safety of his own deductions and just tried things out.

But now it was too late to fix things.

The only thing he really could do now was accept that he had disappointed Bo, counting his mistakes and trying not to do them again. There was always another chance for him to be better, maybe not for the one they both had been, but for Jack, who was here now and definitely still needed him.

And he was incredibly glad when he reappeared, still bounding and excited as Wade laughed at his enthusiasm.

Mark just had hold onto the hope that this was the right way to go, hoping that he would be able to stand in front of the crowd and sing a song they had just practiced in whispering tones. Not even the smaller tries in between the different performances made him feel any less nervous, his neck hair standing up and his breath uneven whenever he thought of going out there. Nothing could distract him, not what was happening on stage, not what was happening beside him, even as the children joined their group.

Forcing themselves in between, the rascals started reading what they came up with, their eyes glowing with excitement, the knot forming itself bigger.

Instead of following the stage, they spent their time writing, preparing their performance, the six around him giggling and singing. They started taking whatever was near them and making music, melodies and beats of all kind mixing together with the few notes Jack and Mark were bullied into sharing, thrilled when they came up with something new to add to the melody. Stomping their feet and clapping their hands they laughed loudly, having the time of their lives. Jack was obviously thrilled, the anticipation making his frame shiver while Mark was slowly starting to get into it.

Endless excitement resonated in everybody like a beating drum, the air electrified.

He was still afraid of failing.

He was precise and correct and did everything the right way because he did not want to fail.

If they had been Bo it would have been easier.

While he would have been determined to not fail, to keep everything correct, the other would have been excited for the challenge. If he had listened to him, maybe he would have been less nervous. Maybe he would have had an easier time, would not have felt as if every single fibre of his being was quivering.

But he was ready, he had never felt more ready.

He was not on his own, they could do it.

So he sucked everything up, heart beating out of his chest but his face a bright grin as Jack was too excited to wait any longer and wanted to go backstage, wanting to practice one more time for real before it would become serious. And Mark followed him as calmly as he could, riling himself up. He was going to have a great time, he was not going to die if he presented something.

But by god, his heart had to shut up at some point or he would rip it out of his ribcage.

And right when he thought he was going to actually rip it out, just so he could clench it into silence, Jack suddenly staggered into him, the red head letting out a confused noise and toppling a bit over the steps he was walking on. For a second he frowned, the keyboard securely set under his armpit, before he took notice of the other shaking his head furiously, rubbing his forehead with a sour face.

“Are you okay?” Mark then asked, stepping to the side, curious about Jack’s behaviour, “Did you trip?”

“Yeah, sorry!” Jack grimaced, still rubbing over his face, “Kinda got dizzy there. Happened in and out the last few day, I don’t think I slept enough to be honest.”

“I noticed. Another nightmare?”

“Nah, nothing of that sort. Just tired I guess.”

Still, Mark was not sure how to proceed as he pointed: “You shouldn’t rub so hard, at that speed you’re going to break your skin.”

Jack just rolled his eyes with a small smile, pointing to one empty spot, before he took out the notes once more, showing one line and saying that he was not sure if there was a pause right after or not. Mark knew he was just trying to change the topic, but took the time to explain it to him, once again, what the sign on the paper meant. However, he did not overlook the fact that the other’s eyebrows were furrowing, as if he was having trouble reading, leaning in far more in then was needed to see the letters. Then while he held the guitar, his fingers clumsily slipped here and there and Mark nudging him every few minutes to get his attention back to the present, Jack snapping out of whatever haze he suddenly found himself in.

“Do you think you are in a good enough condition for this?” the red head finally inquired, “You actually look sleep deprived.”

Jack waved to other off, eyes with a slight glint of amusement, “No worries! I can do this!”

“I don’t know, are you-?”

“Yes, I’m sure! This will be great, don’t mind me!”

And Mark nodded after a while, still feeling off as Jack rubbed at his eyes, hand wandering over to the top of his head. It was not as if he did not know that Jack was lying, but taking the chance away from him to do what he had wanted to do for so long; he could not say no. Instead he kept a close eye on the green head, correcting him here and there when he started to drift off.

“And then I end in a high note, right?”

“Exactly, just don’t forget to hold it for two beats.”

“Two beats, right.”

Then Teddy interrupted the two, looking at her list, as she told them with an annoyed grunt: “Alright, we do have some more people coming, but there is space for you two.”

“Thank you for letting us participate, we really appreciate the chance.”

“It’s not like it was literally last minute, next time I would love you to be a bit faster.” She puffed her cheeks out. “Like days faster. You were in the café, you could have given me a heads up.”

Mark snorted: “Well, the stage had been up for only a day and people from outside weren’t informed in the slightest.”

“I don’t make the rules,” Teddy shrugged, pencil twirling around her fingers, before she huffed, “Running a restaurant and organizing shows is stressful.” Then she looked down at her papers, waving them off. “I’ll be back, you’ll be up next.”

And just as fast as she had come, she left, Mark letting out a puff of air.

“Charming as ever, what do you say?”

The only answer he got was a small “Yep”, Jack popping the P, before they were pushed towards the stage, waiting for their turn.

Mark readied himself with taking deep breaths, knowing he just needed to loosen himself up a bit and to not overthink things, taking Jack as his personal example. He knew he had feelings so he could use that to his advantage, as horrendous they always seemed, they were also a security line. Knowing that he just had to blank out and let his worries wash off and replace them with excitement was easy, already feeling a swirl of satisfaction curl through him. So when he spared a glance towards Jack, to see if he was already bouncing and jumping like a rabbit in place, he was only met with a stiff version of his other half, staring blankly out towards the crowd.

Somehow he had managed to shove a bit of curtain away, the lack of movement unusual and absolutely out of place for the green head. The people on stage were still in the middle of their routine, steadily finishing up, but he couldn’t care less about that as he poked Jack in the side to get a reaction out of him.

“Jack? Are you alright?”

A heavy intake of breath was the answer and the way the green head was cramping his fingers around the curtains to keep his balance gave Left Brain the hint that no, the other was not alright at all. White knuckled and bending over he was suddenly paler than snow, something Mark would have never thought possible, and the other, free hand was gripping at his face, digging into his cheek. For a moment he was just still, before both hands wandered to his head, pressing down at the sides of his skull, blocking out the rest of the world.

The red head stilled only then to realize what was happening, suddenly reminded of his own transition from Left Brain to Mark.

And of fucking course Jack was getting reason drilled into his skull right before a performance. The perfect cocktail of sleepless nights, bubbly emotions and sudden overthinking hitting the green head with a slap, better known as stage fright.

He should have knocked on wood earlier, god dammit.


	24. From High To Low, Up And Down The Feelings Go

“You have to be honest now. Are you actually up for this?”

“Yes, I am,” came it through gritted teeth, “I am, I really am. It’s just, I got a stupid headache, I can do this.”

He shook himself to clear his head, but actually just made it worse.

“I can. Just give me a minute.”

“Is it only a headache?”

The other did not give any answer, neither negative nor positive, just standing there and trying not to relent to whatever was plaguing him. Mark was not sure what to say, but decided that he would listen, petting Jack on the shoulder to give support. In his mind he ticked off the seconds that passed, the minute already over and the third one starting up as Jack tried to block out any kind of noise.

After minute eight Mark declared that they needed to get something to keep the ache down, stepping closer and his hand hovering over Jack’s back. Mark did not hesitate so ask Teddy if there was any medicine nearby the moment she passed them by and she pointed to the school, brows furrowed as she told them to hurry up.

And so Mark led Jack to the backdoor of the school, grateful that everybody had their eyes on the stage, his hand turning the doorknob and shuffling with the other in tow in. For a moment his eyes needed to adjust, the dust and smell of books assaulting his senses and bringing back memories, good ones as terrible ones. He did not have to search for long as they went into the teacher’s room, opening a cabinet and taking the pills out, pushing them into Jack’s hands, who was glad about the dim room and thick silence, the noise from outside having been turned into static noise.

Swallowing the pills, he put his head to the table, pressing his face against the cool surface, mumbling: “This fokin’ sucks.”

“It will be over soon,” Mark replied gently, setting a glass of water beside the green head, “Just give it some time.”

Jack grumbled, before he let out another pathetic whine, his hands gripping his hair, strands going to every side. It was as if his brain was trying to break out of his head and Jack was sure that the contents in there were already mush or bubbling soup. He could not even appreciate the other performance with the terrible pain stabbing him and he let out a sigh of resentment.

“Up to this point everybody was so good,” Jack then hushed out, trying to move his thoughts away from the pain, “I liked the step dancing.”

“Indeed, they did catch my interest as well. Although, I was impressed by the small theatre piece a bit more so.”

“The dragon was a nice touch.”

“The one in the costume was a good actor, the roar was very convincing.”

“I wonder who it was.”

“Maybe Robin.”

“Or Ethan.”

“Good guess. The roar did remind me of his snoring.”

“Yeah, the one time we had to share rooms with him at the excursion? Terrible night.”

“Terrible night, you can say that out loud.”

But Jack stayed silent, and Mark thought grimly that maybe he should have really knocked on wood as he had told Wade about Jack catching up. That it would happen now, of all the times it could have happened, was beyond him, a sigh leaving him. But if he told Jack about it, the fact that Mark had gone through the same and ended up in this state, he would surely ask him why it was happening and so he would not get around telling him everything. So he frowned, closing his eyes, fists curling up.

“I do believe you are getting sick. The rain must have played a role here. Plus you having only a T-shirt on the whole time.”

Jack took the hook and muttered: “Stupid computer.”

“You could have just taken a jacket from the closet.”

“Not in a million years.”

“Or you could have bought one”

“With what money?”

“Bo’s money.”

“No.”

Mark chuckled, as he let out a small: “Childish as ever.”

Naïve as ever.

Trusting as ever.

A groan left the other, Mark wincing as he stared at Jack, who was still pressing his face against the wooden surface. No other movement came from him, probably losing touch with reality and Mark let him disassociate. For a moment both of them stayed quiet, Mark glancing out of the window and watching as the dark of night went from violet to blue and then to black, the orange lamps illuminating the outside world. Cheers were heard, and the wind howled from the other side of the school, the noises dwindling into a musical piece. A look around the room showed once more that summer was almost over, the pumpkins steadily replacing the flowers from the windowsill and the paper decorations already hinting on Halloween ones.

“This is nice.”

Mark regarded the other, tilting his head: “What is nice?”

“Talking like that. That you listen and don’t sound like as if you are going to look down on me any minute,” he went quiet before he added softly, “Or like you want to get rid of me.”

Mark’s hand gripped the table: “Did I really give you that impression?”

At the soft nod, Mark sighed dejectedly, but before he could say anything the other shook his head, telling him sleepily: “It’s alright. I know you didn’t mean to come off as that. That’s just who you are, I don’t mind.”

Mark leant back in his chair, arms crossed as he mulled his words over. Another side glance outside and then to Jack made him lift a hand to his neck, not sure if he actually should reply anything to that. He could not really, because what Jack had said basically confirmed that the green head had accepted him from moment one, while Mark had needed days.

Years.

His whole life.

So he just let out a huff, rubbing his neck, before letting his arm fall once more.

“Scratch what I said, I hate this.”

Mark felt his stomach squirm at the words that escaped the green head’s mouth and he bend over the table, laying his head on it and observing the other as close as he could. The bangs were covering a good part of his face, but Right Brain could not hide the way he squeezed his eyes shut or how he dug his hands deeper into his scalp.

“I hate everything.”

“Jack.”

Blue eyes opened slowly, as if fighting against gravity, before they found the other, both of them with their head sideways on the table, watching. Mark’s glasses were bend as his pupils wandered over the other, his face laced with remorse.

“What is going through your mind right now?”

For a few moments Jack just laid there, trying to make sense of the question. The fact that Mark was not trying to find a reason, was not reading his posture or face and making an educated guess, but was asking him was unusual. The question also overwhelmed him a bit, his tongue tied in knots, before he sighed softly through his nose.

“I’m afraid.”

“Do you know why?”

“I could mess up.”

“And that bothers you.”

It was not a question but Jack nodded anyway and Mark grit his teeth, the words overthinking banging inside of his own skull. Of course Jack was overthinking, starting to overthink before a performance. Of course he was still not realizing why he was afraid but the emotion paralyzing him anyway. And of course Mark was still selfish, because he knew in the back of his mind that he did not want to go on and if Jack was having doubts as well it was bound to turn out terrible.

He could not do this on his own.

So instead he had to make sure, asking in a half silent whisper:

“Are you up for this?”

And Jack wanted to be up for this.

He really, really wanted to be up for this.

But his heart seemed to beat out of his chest and his thoughts became jumbled and all the words for the song were scattering into the wind. He felt nervous and his head was splitting apart the more he thought about the question, the tight squeeze that told him that he should not go on well-known to him. Voices telling him that it would be useless and that it will turn out to be a disaster if he held on to the idea.

So he shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut, as Mark sighed.

Lifting his hand once more, he brushed aside Jack’s hands as best as he could, before he carefully petted the others hair, consoling him.

“It’s alright. There is always another time, there is always going to be another autumn. By then we will have an even better song, I am sure.”

Jack relaxed at that, as outside the world erupted into another cheer, the night seemingly coming to a finale, the noise wavering here and there. But right now he actually felt more comfortable laying here as the other petted him a few times, never retrieving his hand. Neither of them wanted to move now, Mark nodding in assurance, Jack easing his shoulders for a second time.

It was nice.

Even if the disappointed lay heavy in him, it was nice the other was not blaming him, had asked him for his opinion. He knew, absolutely knew, if he had said he were ready, Mark would have nodded and let him go on, and that was worth more than anything else.

And so, even if Jack still felt awful, he asked him to go to the forest after.

Mark had at first been against the idea, as Jack heaved himself out of his chair, swaying dangerously, telling the green head that he needed to rest and go home, that he would just make himself worse if he continued walking around in his weakened state. But as Jack pleaded with him that he had promised to help the children out, face tired and hope clinging to it, Mark relented immediately, with a slight crossed expression, telling him that they would get Jack one of Wade’s hoodies to wear if he kept declining Mark’s proposals of taking something Bo owned to stay warm.

And Jack was honestly so happy to see that Mark took his words to heart and helped him get to where they needed to be, his feet not really listening to him.

Before they could be on their way however, they had to excuse themselves to Teddy, who at first had been furious, then let it go as she saw the state Jack was in, practically leaning against Mark, his hand trembling as he had explained that he was not feeling well. It also helped that Samantha came and had pulled the restaurant owner away to defuse the situation further.

Soon after they got tackled by the children, apologizing to them for not having kept their word in showing them something, but they were easily to be satisfied, tugging and pushing them to come with them, another reason why Mark had to agree once more to Jack’s wish.

It was hard enough to deny the green head alone something nowadays, but with him being “sick” and four other gremlins as his support, he would have stood no chance.

Jack was disappointed for not having been able to go on stage, sure, but the kids told him that they could just do a small stage somewhere else and let them perform later when he was feeling better. Samantha giggled at the idea, voicing it to be adorable as Teddy told them to not be so cheeky and that she would definitely not work another time as a show host. Jack just smiled quietly beside the others, Mark as his crutch, the group of people moving down the hill and towards the park.

Somehow in all that chaos Wade had managed to find them as well, and when Mark explained to him what had happened, he did not hesitate for a second to pull his hoodie over his head and force it over Jack’s one, smirking.

“You didn’t have to,” Jack then sighed, burying himself in the warmth, hands clutching the clothing, while Wade snorted.

“Yeah right, tremble leaf. It’s not like you are freezing to death.” Then Wade focused on the children that were playing catch around the three of them. “Guys, what have you even planned?”

“It’s a surprise!”

Wade rolled with his eyes, as he fixated Mark: “You know anything?”

“We helped with the surprise. So you can’t hit us up for information either.”

“Drat…” Wade snipped with his fingers, as he crossed his arms and announced with an exaggerated voice, “I would have loved to get a hint.”

The children snickered as Jack let out a drained laugh, Mark lightly shaking his head. With the new found way of teasing, the children did not let up with mocking Wade, here and there actually letting a hint slip, while the two brain halves tried not to erupt into laughter at some of the suggestions Wade made. Crowding around the park did not help the matter, as everybody tried to figure out what the children have planned, while those all gathered in front of the forest, some parents already dreading the implications.

Before announcing to go in, Nina tugged at Mark, silently asking him if the two could lead the way, probably scared that the adults would not be fond of the idea, and he nodded.

In the entrance Jack and Mark vanished, the whole troop of children on their heels and everybody watched them with a mix of uncertainty and worry, as well as curiosity. It took a while, before Nina waved them over, smiling brightly.

Together, Wade followed by Samantha and Teddy, they crouched underneath the foliage, stepping into the clearing behind it. One after the other the mass of people trickled into the tree dome, only now apprehending what they had done, the yellow, red and green illumination having been hidden behind the coloured leaves. Most people gasped as they stepped in, curiously glancing around while others were frozen, needing to be pushed forwards. Even though the forest was a gnarly mess of roots and vegetation, to see it in such a light was magnificent. The children themselves were jumping about, cheering together as they saw the surprised faces.

“How even…” stuttered Teddy then out, turning to Spencer, “You hung up the lights here? You children, all by yourself?”

Spencer shook his head: “Nah. We came up with the idea, but we had help!”

Teddy lifted a perplexed eyebrow as the children all pointed to the two brain halves, Jack grinning, hiding his face in the red hoodie, while Mark saluted swiftly. That made some sigh in relief, for there was at least a bit of super vision, other were too fascinated to really register anything, walking around the clearing. Some went beside the river, watching the colours reflect, others walked deeper in, candles illuminating the way.

“This looks celestial…” Samantha than hushed out, hands in front of her face, before turning to the two beside her, “And the children came up with this?”

Jack nodded softly, Mark holding him by the shoulders, as he explained: “They wanted to show that they are just as grown up to help out. We did really only little, it was all them.”

And they left it at that as everybody walked around, taking in the atmosphere, praising the work. Nobody noticed the hours pass by, everybody engrossed in their conversations, the warmth everybody found themselves in bringing a calm mood. Soon enough the younger children started to yawn, falling asleep around the adults, some of them making nests with jackets and backpacks. Jack had to catch himself several times to not let his eyelids fall, having sat himself by the river, Mark keeping an eye on him.

While Jack drifted in and out of consciousness, the pill taking its toll on him, Mark noticed the green head glancing at Sammy from the corner of his eyes. She was helping Mai braid her hair so it would not get caught in her tree climbing antics and Mark started nudging the other time and time again, on one hand to keep him awake, on the other hand so he would talk to her for at least a bit. But Jack silently opposed him, instead burying his head deeper into the lend clothing, pressing his head against the red head’s chest.

Then Left Brain decided to take matters into his own hands.

“I’m sorry, Samantha? Can you look after Jack for a moment?”

Jack stared at him in a mix of shock, betrayal and anger, as Mark pushed him lightly away from him, while the blonde lifted an eyebrow.

“Of course!” she then heartily agreed, sending Mai off to play further with the others.

Gripping a caught off guard Wade, Mark walked off with him, the children away and focused on playing while Teddy was trying to get two of the school boys away from the water. Jack whispered after the other, cursing him under his breath as Mark winked at him.

“Guess there were only two then!” Samantha laughed, shrugging, “Sorry you caught a bug right before all this.”

“Mhm… It’s my fault, I was walking in the rain with a shirt,” Jack mumbled, keeping his eyes on the flowing water, tipping with his fingers on his crossed legged knees, “Mark did say I should keep warm, but I didn’t listen.”

“At least you two made up I see!”

“Yeah,” Jack smiled slightly, before frowning, “He’s annoying me though.”

Samantha had to keep her laugh in as she snorted: “Aww… I thought you were finally getting along!”

“We are,” he nodded before stretching himself and letting out a sigh, “Thanks for helping me out on that.”

“I did nothing really.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“Now you are flattering me!”

Luckily the blush the green head sported vanished behind the thick clothing as he responded with a huff: “Ah, nah. Just saying the truth!”

There while she brushed a few hair strands from her eyes as she responded: “Still… Glad you two are okay. Mostly I guess.”

“With mostly okay you mean me being a sick mess?”

Samantha put her hand to her chin, as she thought about it, taking entirely too long, before she announced with a slight wave of her hand: “I actually meant with mostly okay that you two are not fighting anymore, but that one works too.”

“Yeah, we mostly discuss now. It’s better than fighting honestly.”

“I have to say, it’s impressive to see the change as an outsider.”

“Mark does care, he’s just bad at showing it,” Jack explained with a soft nod, “I had to learn that, too.”

Petting his hand that was still tipping away on his knee, Samantha smiled at him: “I told you he doesn’t hate you!”

But instead of calming him with that action, Jack blushed harder, trying to steady his voice but only nodding vigorously. For a moment they sat like that, Jack’s face half hidden as Sammy watched the children run about, grinning at their antics. She failed to notice Jack’s heart almost beating out of his chest, and neither of them noticed how Mark and Wade glanced over a few times or how the children snickered.

“You were actually going to present something, if I understood the kid’s right,” she then continued, facing him once more.

Jack just nodded: “We were, but then my own mistake made it fall flat.”

Samantha smiled reassuringly, ripping some grass out of the ground and playing with it, before letting the blades fall again. “That’s alright. Guess I just have to wait for it next year!”

At that Jack’s face fell a bit.

“I’m not sure how long we will stay. Maybe.”

“Oh, right…” she replied caught off guard, “So I take that you will leave soon?”

“N-not really. We have nothing planned really.”

At that she lifted a worried eyebrow.

“Didn’t you ask Mark? I know you two are waiting on Bo, but he didn’t tell you anything? Like… uh, like what the next steps are for you two?”

“No.”

“That is really weird,” she mumbled before squeezing his hand once more, “Maybe you should do that. I think it’s important for you to talk these things out.”

Jack on the other hand was unsure: “We have a really stupid problem on our hands, so I don’t know if I should. He has been really nice the last few days and I don’t wanna make him uncomfortable again.”

“What about being honest?”

Swallowing dryly he blinked, his eyes locking with hers.

Before Jack could really say anything, his temples felt like knifes had plunged into them, bending his head over his legs. Samantha softly petted his back as she tried to calm him down but he just gasped for breath, clutching his chest right after. The explosion of stars behind his eyelids then started to lessen and he rasped out a sorry, she shaking her head and telling him that it was okay.

Then the noise around them gained on volume, as some decided that it was time to let the last attraction of the night begin, waking the sleepy heads and calming down the rascals. Jack and Samantha decided to follow, she helping him on his feet with an outstretched hand as he took it gratefully. Mark and Wade came over just as fast and everybody stepped out from the orange light into a silver filled one, the moon hanging cloudless in the sky. While everybody climbed their way out of the forest, people already stared, waiting for the firmament above them to change.

As the wheezing sound, followed by the small explosion, filled the air, a last applaud went around the village, the black night sky sparkling with lights.

One explosion after the other came, the fireworks not letting up for the longest time, the lights drizzling down. Nina somehow had managed to pull herself up to Wade’s shoulders leaning her head on his, while the other three sat cross legged around him. Everybody was staring at the sky, the smiles breaking out on every single face and some started to cheer, trying to over scream the booming thunder noises.

Mark was honestly sad as everything came to an end, first waving Spencer, Olivia and Mai goodbye, who thanked them for the help, then thanking Samantha for looking after Jack, who was silent and already half gone leaning at his side. The pill must have been a strong one, Jack nodding in and out, his feet heavy.

The only ones left were Wade and Nina, she still perched on her viewpoint as he helped Mark guide the green head out of the crowd of people and back home, slow but steady.

Arriving home, Nina wishing them good night, Mark assured Wade that he would be okay now and wanted to give him the hoodie back. But Wade shook his head, replying that Jack could keep it for the time being. Instead he asked for his computer and Mark nodded, settling Jack on the couch, before he went up to retrieve the device. With that Wade waved him good night as well, before the red head was left alone in the door, closing it with a soft click.

As he arrived back at the couch however Jack had already curled himself up, eyes still open but obviously not planning on going anywhere.

“You really should go upstairs and rest in bed.”

“In five minutes.”

Mark sighed as he sat himself on the couch as well, Jack’s legs giving him barely enough room but room nonetheless. He was not going to argue with him, he was probably exhausted, and even though the couch will kill his back and neck, he would not move him out if he did not want to. He almost thought the other was already asleep, but then he heard the other shuffle.

“You said you are done with working,” Jack then whispered hoarsely, barely audible, “Does that mean you know how to get Bo back now?”

And there it was.

Mark should have known that the moment would come soon enough, he should have prepared himself better, but he was left swimming in uncertainty, sinking deeper into the couch as he tried to pick his words carefully. He needed to tell Jack as gently as he could what was going on, as soft as he could.

“No,” he decided then, “No. I don’t know.”

“But you’re done?”

“I don’t have any more leads that would help, at least not in the e-mail. And we don’t have any other sources available.”

Jack buried his head in the couch mattress as he rasped a helpless: “Oh.”

Mark swallowed as he turned his head: “Jack?”

“Yeah?”

“I… It was actually fun to write the song.”

The green head lifted his head from the couch, as he smiled softly: “You mean it?”

“I can imagine doing more of these if I am honest.”

“That would be great.”

“Right.”

“Mark?”

A slight stab went into his heart at the name, even as they were sitting in the safe zone Jack using it. As Mark’s eyes wandered over, heart thudding in his throat, he could see Jack looking off into the distance, staring with empty eyes at the wall. If he had not known better he would have said they were glowing blue in the darkness, but writing it off as the light from the windows reflecting off from them.

“Yes?”

Now the other sat up once more, starting to pull Wade’s hoodie off from him, struggling with the sleeves. Mark bend over to help him to pull it and as it was out of the way, safely tucked on the coffee table, Jack slouched in his position, hair messy and eyes drooping.

“I miss him.”

His voice had been so soft that Mark almost overheard it and he stared for a good while, watching as the tears gathered and bubbled in Jack’s eyes, a sniff leaving him. It only took a few seconds then for the water droplets to cascade down his cheeks, flowing and not with any end in sight, one after the other trickling to the ground below.

As Jack turned his head, eyes searching Mark’s ones, he repeated his words, louder, heavier, as if the weight was pushing him to become harsher, before he squeezed his eyes shut and knocked into the other, using his legs to jump and bury himself into Mark, who half sat, half stood, arms above his head. One leg was folded underneath him, while the other was keeping him steady, pushing against the floor, while his back was pressed against the edge of the sofa. He could do nothing but blink, as Jack gripped his shirt, fingers clamping around the fabric while he heaved with sobs, his throat raw and voice gurgling.

“I MISS HIM!”

The words did not stop falling from his mouth, over and over again and Mark registered with a dull sting the déjà vu he was experiencing.

So finally he overcame himself, as he set his arms down on Jack, before curling them securely around his waist. Then he moved himself to sit properly on the couch once again, pulling his one leg back to the cushions and letting Jack sob into his chest. At first Mark rubbed circles to try to calm his other half down, before he started hushing nonsense into his ears, saying that it would be alright and that everything would be okay. That his shirt was getting wetter by the minute did not really matter to him or the way Jack was losing his hold, settling his head on him.

What did give him something to chew about was Jack’s small sorry he huffed barely out through his burning throat.

“It’s just an over-reaction,” Mark tried to console him, petting his head as Jack crossed his arms, eyes closed and letting the tears fall, “Stress caught up to you.”

“It sucks…”

“It does.”

Jack did not reply after that but Mark did not let up in brushing through his hair strands, softly arranging it back to its less messy state. Absent-mindedly untangling knots here and there, Jack let him, letting out a small noise, sniffing and rubbing with his hands over his eyes. The fact that his forehead was burning up to the point he could cook a fried egg on it made Mark worry and wonder if they even had anything to keep it down.

“Do you want to go to bed now?”

“No.”

“You can’t keep laying here.”

Jack just shook his head and Mark sighed resigned, silence hanging in the pitch black room. At first neither of them moved, both of them too preoccupied coming up with arguments, before Mark let out a puff of air. As he put his hands under Jacks armpits, pushing him up, the green head numbly noted his tries to stay as failed, before he felt the other push him even farther up. Mark then used the made space to lay down comfortably, tugging the dead weight forward and letting Jack rest on top of him. The other just let out a startled snort, but did not complain as Mark continued brushing his hair, a deep sigh leaving him. Soon after his head lolled to the side, before his breath completely evened out, his body relaxing.

If he was honest, for the tiniest of seconds Mark had wanted to roll off the couch to let Jack sleep in peace, but then decided against it, not wanting to stir him. Jack was exhausted and cold to the touch, having lost energy by jumping and walking around as if nothing was wrong and Mark was too tired himself to carry the other anywhere at this point.

Left Brain was tired, but he had been through his break-down.

Jack was still on it.

So he was not too disgruntled by the fact that he turned into a pillow, Jack finally getting some real shut eye. Lifting his arm to position it better, Jack let out a soft sigh, both relaxing further. Mark did not exactly know why he had moved him in the first place, he was being squished now, but he was sure that Jack would not get a cramp at least, something that neither of them needed to deal with tomorrow. Having to deal with a happy Right Brain was a struggle, so tomorrow would probably be another adventure in itself, as he stared at the ceiling, coming up with possible scenarios.

He tried not to think too hard, having to sleep as well, but as it was his function anybody could guess how victorious he was in achieving it. Still, his concentration lay mostly on the fact that Jack buried his head into him, puffing out his breath. The good thing was that the nights were getting colder so Jack provided to be an excellent blanket, and Mark guessed he was indeed the perfect pillow, sliding down a bit so he could stretch his legs.

Then he wondered on how he should tell the other about the side effect, telling him that they would end up like this forever.

It was not fair to not tell him the truth, the possibility of Bo never coming back. Confronting himself with the idea was torture, so it was even harder to decide if he wanted to put that knowledge on Right Brain. Maybe he already felt that Mark was hiding something, maybe he was just waiting for a hint, Mark was not sure. At this point he knew Jack and did not know him at all.

He felt the other push himself against his hand, as if the petting was doing him good, so Mark continued, ruffling and brushing it again and again, the repetitive movement making him dizzy with sleep as well.

He did not want to keep lying, but what was worse?

Lying or crushing his other halves hopes?

Before he could find any answers, he fell asleep as well, night engulfing them.


	25. Mirror, Mirror

The next morning Jack groggily batted his eyes, pushing his head further into the pillow he was laying on, groaning.

His head pounded as if it was about to explode and he gritted his teeth, willing the pain to go away. While he did so, he noticed that his pillow was moving, so he lifted his head slowly, just slightly so he could see where he was. As he noticed that it was not Bo’s nor the guestroom, he remembered that he had fallen asleep on the couch, his one hand already ready to slap his forehead. But, as he was getting aware of his surroundings, he finally made the connection that the moving pillow was Left Brain, who was still sleeping peacefully. Jack let his hand rest where it was, as he closed his eyes instead, grateful that the other had not left him here alone.

Sadly enough the other was already getting back his bearings as well and rubbed his eyes as he glanced down at the green head.

“Good morning.”

“Top of the mornin’ to ya.”

“Still got that greeting, huh?”

Jack chuckled slightly, not making any move to stand up yet, hoping the other did not as well.

“Yeah, thought it would be good to use it now.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s the top of the mornin’ and I’m wishing it to ya.”

“Very funny.”

Mark then squeezed his eyes shut as he knocked his hand into his glasses, having wanted to rub the sleep away from them and cursing himself for forgetting to take them off. He was not ready to move either, so instead he stretched his arms above his head, asking with a small yawn: “Slept well?”

“I did. Thank you.”

Mark shrugged as he let his hand rest on top of the other’s hair once more, carding through it. Jack instantly relaxed, closing his eyes, the headache he had subsiding slightly. A content sigh left his lips as Left Brain replied with a soft mumble, tilting his head.

“You’re welcome. You looked exhausted so it was an easy choice to keep you here.”

“You didn’t have to stay though.”

“You pretty much pinned me down, so moving without waking you was impossible.”

“You could have woken me up.”

Mark shook his head as he repeated: “You looked exhausted. So I didn’t move.”

If he had the power, Jack would have wished to just stay like that for the rest of his life, being petted, not being too warm or too cold, nestled comfortable against the other. Right now he felt at absolute peace, nothing was amiss aside the headache, nothing outside the house was important right now. He was about to fall asleep again, but the stabbing pain worked itself to the front of his head and he suddenly had to move his hands to press them on his forehead, clenching his eyes shut. Mark stopped as soon as Jack had moved, watching him with a lifted eyebrow.

“Are you okay?” Mark then enquired, watching as Jack slightly curled himself up, pressing his head down onto him.

Then he could hear the faintest of mumbles, Jack sounding defeated as he whispered: “Headache.”

Mark frowned softly, as helped the other to sit up, leaning him back onto the couch rest as he told him in a hushed voice: “How about I get you water? You are probably dehydrated.”

Right Brain nodded as he twisted his fingers around the curls in front of his face, the feeling of being stabbed increasing the longer he sat upright. As soon as a wave left another came to get him by surprise. To make matters worse not even the weather could cheer him up, the blue sky covered in grey clouds, mist covering the city like an impenetrable blanket. If he had not known for a fact that they had clear windows, he would have said they were dust stained, only shadows and shapes visible. All he could do was groan as he gritted his teeth, hoping Mark was right about being dehydrated and that the water would be able to do something against the knife that repeatedly slashed into his skull.

But Left Brain still hovered beside him with a hand to his forehead, trying to make sense of it.

“You don’t seem to have a fever.”

“Then why do I still feel so shitty?”

Mark had a few points to count: “Emotional stress, physical exhaustion, lingering nausea because of the bug you caught, the cold weather getting to you…”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

Leaning back, Jack curled up once more, the events of yesterday passing him by. He had to say he had fun, a lot of fun, but something nagged him, something drilling its way into his chest and he was unsure on how to place it. Maybe it was the way Mark was so open minded, maybe it was the children having been so incredibly proud or maybe it had just been his disappointment over not having been able to perform.

No that was not it.

“After we get Bo back, what are we going to do then?”

Mark had been on his way to get a glass, walking towards the kitchen as he stopped in his tracks, turning half-way to him. If Jack had been more awake he would have maybe noticed the tremor that ran up the others spine or how he was curling his fists into a death grip.

“Why such a question?” he then decided on saying, “Especially like this out of nowhere.”

“I… don’t know,” Jack huffed, closing his eyes, “Curious that’s all.”

Mark stayed quiet, before he slowly answered: “As it is right now, we both know Bo wasn’t really content with a lot things. I suppose we will change those immediately.”

“Like finding a better job?”

“Much better jobs.”

That made the other sigh a bit as he mumbled: “Alright.”

Somehow that answer had not made him feel better. It rather made him feel worse.

Jack still did not really understand what was going on, but somehow he felt uneasy the way Mark had replied to him, distant and unsure. Left Brain was never unsure, and if he was, he would first say that he did not know. It somehow sounded wrong of him to sound undeceive, as if he had to think of words, not because he wanted to sound smarter, but because he had to come up with something behind the words.

Yesterday Samantha had told him to ask Mark what was going on. She had assured him that being honest with the other would surely be the best way. But just from this small conversation he picked up enough to know that she was wrong this time.

Mark was lying.

He could hear it, he could feel it.

Then Jack thought more about it, his mind providing him out of nowhere with the fact that Mark had used plural.

He did not say job, he said jobs.

Jobs.

Bile filled his mouth, as he thought more, his head spinning and spinning.

And Left Brain just left with a frown, putting the glass into the sink, filling it up as he tried to rile himself up to actually tell the other the truth.

He knew he could not keep hiding it, could not keep to himself that there was no going back to Bo. He tried to tell himself that he was strong enough for this, that he just needed to go back to his old roots of being cold and harsh, just telling the logical conclusion. He was sure Jack would understand, maybe he would even see something positive out of the whole thing like he always did.

But as he stepped into the living room once more, Jack was gone, Mark almost letting the glass fall as he drowned in soft panic.

He had not heard the other stand up and he would have seen him if he had gone to the front door. The only place he could be was either here or upstairs. Mark did not dare calling out, for he did not want to worsen Jack’s headache, but he was close to doing it. Not finding any trace he walked up, noting with a sudden start that the door to Bo’s room was open. Left Brain was sure he had closed it, not wanting to alarm Jack by seeing the interior, and he swallowed, peeking through the frame.

There he was, looking out of the window and staring into the distance.

“Jack?”

Mark carefully made his way up to him as he looked out of the window with him, noticing some villagers cleaning up, probably in a hurry for they could feel the dense atmosphere that promised rain in its wake.

“You look terrible,” Mark then said, pushing the glass forward, only for the green head to ignore it, “What are you doing in here? I thought you despised Bo’s room.”

“It’s not Bo’s room anymore. It’s yours, isn’t it?”

Frowning, Mark blinked before he tilted his head: “Well, if that makes you feel better about it, I can agree with that observation.”

“It’s fact,” Jack replied before he continued staring, “We should go outside.”

“In your state?”

No answer and the red head put a hand to Jack’s forehead for the umpteenth time, his shoulders falling slightly. He was not warm to the touch, the opposite really, he was cold as ice, making him shiver. He looked ghostly pale and all his enthusiasm was sucked out of him, Mark reluctant to agree.

“You should rest rather, it’s not a good idea to walk around right after a bug like that.”

“I want to.”

“Why?”

“I need to.”

Shaking his head Mark frowned, trying to decipher Jack’s sudden shift of mood.

So he asked once again: “Why do you need to go outside? Do you need to see something? Did the children tell you to visit them?”

“No.”

“Then why?”

“Because I say so.”

This was getting cryptic and worrying.

First Jack asked about Bo, then he went into his room and now he needed to go outside?

Definitely not.

But the stare, empty and hollow made Mark stop in his tracks as they bored through the window glass, the wave that wafted off from him sharp like a knife.

“Well…” the red head then mumbled, his words uncertain, “Maybe it would be a good idea to visit the café, get some breakfast. Maybe we will get some sunshine out of this day as well if we are lucky…-”

“Mark.”

A chill ran up his spine at the tone of the voice, as if it was pulling him apart, cold and judging. For a second he just stood there with a slightly opened mouth, trying to come up with words, while Jack kept his eyes on the horizon. It was as if he had never even said anything, but Mark knew he was just waiting, the silence too much to bear.

Finally he stuttered out a small: “Yes?”

“Nevermind.”

The red head blinked, a bit overwhelmed by the situation as Jack pushed himself from the window and walked towards the door, waiting expectantly for him to follow. Mark needed a second to gather his bearings, as he followed him down the stairs, setting the glass reluctantly back into the sink and walking by the living room once more, pointing to Wade’s hoodie. Telling him he should put it on, the other just shook his head, Mark frowning displeased.

“Jack, like this you’ll actually get sick.”

“I don’t feel cold.”

“That doesn’t mean your body is okay with the strain you put on it.”

“That’s fine.”

Mark detected something he could not place in the words, but he did not dare to touch upon it, as he just crumbled underneath his fate. Mark secretly hoped that Wade could help him out with the green head, that was the actual reason he had proposed to go to the café and he threw his eyebrows up as Jack grabbed him by the wrist. Holding his arm, Right Brain tugging him with, and Mark could feel the fingers dig into him, now understanding what Jack head meant by the sore, fuzzy feeling that spread there. But unlike him a few days ago, Jack stumbled, as if it was a chore for him to walk, squeezing his eyes shut. Whenever he asked him if the headache was bothering him, Jack shook his head, denying it.

They both were terrible liars.

Arriving at the café did not lift either of their moods, as the red head looked around, hoping to find Wade in his tell-tale hoodie, wondering how many he even had, before noticing him. He silently sighed in relief, Jack blinking dazedly as they both went over, while Wade greeted them surprised. Seeing Jack swaying he did not hesitate to seat them in a corner, first asking Mark what he was thinking in bringing in a dizzy Right Brain, before yelping at Jack why he even needed to go out.

“Because I said so.”

“That’s not an answer!”

“He’s been like this the whole morning,” Mark provided then to a disturbed Wade, Jack still hanging on to his side, “I think he’s just out of it, so I didn’t argue.”

“I’m not out…”

“But you aren’t on either.”

Wade snorted, but was not actually amused but more worried, leaning over the table as he gently petted the other on the shoulder: “Dude, you are obviously tired.”

“I know.”

“Go home.”

“No.”

Wade shrugged, as Mark made a desperate “I told you” gesture, both of his hands in the air, as just in that moment Teddy decided to show up, asking for her employee back. Wade apologized profusely, as he already stood from his crouched position, before Mark shot up, surprising both worker and shop owner while Jack dug his fingers deeper into the red sleeve.

“I just need a minute with him,” Mark interjected, Wade lifting an eyebrow as Teddy blinked.

For a second she was trying to come up with an argument, but then decided she did not mind as she watched Mark bend over to carefully pry the green heads fingers off from him.

Before turning to his friend, he asked Teddy in a pleading tone: “Could you take care of him?”

Wade just blinked slightly caught off guard as the shop-owner shooed the two of them away, telling them with a slight annoyed tone that she would not do this if he had not been so helpful with Spencer. Telling the red head how her nephew talked about the two “strangers” all the time, it seemed only fair to give him some time with his friend. Mark nodded curtly before he grabbed Wade and started whispering to him, voice getting quieter as they left the other two behind and the noise mixing with the rest of the café.

Teddy’s eyes then wandered back to Jack who was sitting there, face slack. For a moment she wondered what she should do, before she sat down and nudged the other by his cheek, Jack snapping out of his state.

“You look paler than my white napkins, looks like your skin went through a bleach wash,” Teddy then started, head supported by her hands, “You look like you could go transparent. You doing okay?”

Jack shrugged as he answered with: “I feel weird.”

“Hmpf, what kind of virus did you even catch? By the heavens…”

“At least I’m not cold anymore.”

“I assume you are already so cold that you don’t feel it anymore. You look like you can drop dead any minute, to be honest.”

Jack breathed out, his voice soft.

“I… have been stressed recently, I talked to Mark about life things and stuff.”

“Oh?” Teddy slightly sat straighter, her motherly instincts rising in an instant. “What kind of life things?”

“He never listened to me in the past you know? He… listens to me now, so we talked about things I want to do and plan on doing. Those kind of things.”

“That’s good then right? That’s a step into a good direction I say.”

“Yeah.”

“So why are you so unhappy about it?” Teddy frowned at Jack’s less than motivated answer, “Now that he listens to you, whatever could make that go sour? I for instance am always grateful for a willing ear. I wish Spencer would listen to me.”

Jack did not have the energy to smile at that and simply replied: “I want to make people happy.”

“Perfect then. Become a comedian or something. You both seemed to have fun preparing for the stage, give that a shot.”

That made Jack press his hands to the sides of his head, bending slightly over the table, face crunched up as if something had just plunged into it with a blade. Teddy almost jumped up to ask him if he needed something, but was kept rooted to her place at the next words.

“I don’t know what I want anymore,” he whimpered as his fingers started to tremble, “I… I think I’m gonna be sick…”

“Okay, okay, uh…” She waved with her hands as he looked around but not finding anything that looked like a bucket or likewise to help her, “Care to explain? Let’s breathe, okay? What has you so worked up?”

Jack seemed to gather his thoughts, and considering that he looked like as if he was in immense pain, obviously having a hard time with it. Then he blinked his eyes open, after a hard swallow his voice sounding more like a robotic response then the quirky squeal Teddy was accustomed to, mumbling and far away.

“It’s quiet.”

Teddy looked around as she noted with absolute certainty that the room they were in was definitely not quiet. She could hear people laugh and talk around their food, could hear cutlery clanging together, heard footsteps going from one side to the other. She could see her husband talk to one of the guest, saw some children run around the tables, coffee machines rattling and shouts in the kitchen emerging. So she took Jack’s hands that had found their way on the table, flinching at the coldness, before squeezing them.

“Okay, now listen here, sweetie. I don’t get it,” Teddy honestly replied, “Explain to me what is going on through that green head of yours.”

But all she got out of him was a sigh, as Jack let his head rest on the table, Teddy still holding his hands, her face a constant frown. After a few moments she could see the other open his eyes once more, staring off, so she took the chance as she rubbed circles with her thumbs on the back of Right Brain’s hands.

“Look… All I know is that you and Mark were getting along yesterday and that was great. And all I really care about now is that you two are alright. Whatever bothers you about your future and there like, you should focus on the present.”

The smallest nod was made and she grinned a bit.

“Good god, you do remind me of your cousin, you know that?”

“Cousin?”

“Robert of course, what a troublemaker. You two are very alike I noticed, always up for some mischief. He is a bit more down to earth, always had been, but after what happened in Vinestone even more, that was a real tragedy.” She shook her head. “That boy really needs to get his cups together and get out of that grey cloud. I remember talking to him days in and out over his own future and when he settled with his decision, well…”

Jack tensed up.

“What well?”

Teddy shrugged, petting his hands: “He made a decision that was filled with other people’s opinions and views. Views that muddled his own thoughts and twisted his own logic into something his soul could not agree with. It’s painfully obvious, because he wants to make people happy just like you, but in a way that crushed him.”

“You just summed up Bo up in a sentence.”

“I raised that rascal just as much as his own parents, bless their souls. If anybody can read him, it’s me. And Wade’s mother for all that it is worth. That woman has her own demons to beat that is for sure, haven’t heard from her in years.”

She let out a snort, huffing out a breath.

“Anyway… you really should focus on yourself, let everything else slide. Your future is your own, whatever other people want in life, they shouldn’t search for it in yours and rip it away. If Mark is one of those people, you should let him slide as well.”

However that made Jack sit straight again, his brows narrowing as he glared at Teddy, a hiss working itself out of his throat. Teddy had just enough time to pull her hands back as Jack slammed his own down, breath heavy and chest visibly heaving. Anger was radiating off from him, the shop owner slightly folding into herself by the immense frustration and hatred thrown her way. She could have sworn Jack’s eyes emitted a flashing blue light, but she brushed that to the side as Jack leant forward, a snarl leaving him.

“How can you say that?!” he then barked through his teeth, hands turning into fists, “How can you say that I should let Mark slide?!”

“For the moment.”

Jack still fumed but his glare lessened, as his shoulder fell, Teddy having realised her mistake, trying to defuse the situation. She should have known Mark was a touchy subject to poke into, the two of them bound to the hips, so she should have picked her words more carefully. So she did the only thing she could do, reassure the other to calm him down.

“Just for the moment. You and Mark are brothers and of course you value his opinion. But brothers mess up, too.”

That made Jack sink back to his seat, looking more miserable than before.

“You sometimes have to choose, Jack,” Teddy then added into the silence as she watched him staring at the ceiling, “There are always two ways. Go the safe route, listen to the people around you and wonder where those other paths would have led you, or give everything, listen to your own heart and maybe run into a dead-end. You have to sometimes jump and hope you won’t break your neck.”

No response, Jack just absent-mindedly noting the truth in the words and another wave of nausea hitting him.

And with that Teddy stood up, scooting out of the seat and settling a hand on Jack’s shoulder: “Rest, alright? You should rest and get something warm into you.” She pointed behind her shoulder. “Want some hot chocolate? On the house for your miserable butt.”

“Yeah,” Jack replied, pressing one hand over his eyes, “Yeah that would be nice.”

And so she stood up, only for Jack to tell her that he would go to the bathroom and splash some water onto his face. She pointed in response behind her, telling him to follow and he nodded, some colour draining from his face as he stood up and fell in step beside her.

On the other side of the café however was another conversation in the middle of being unfolded, Wade having almost tripped over his own shoes as he had been led away, leaving the thick atmosphere he had found himself in. Halting beside the backdoor, a small shudder had left him as he took a moment to get his bearings back, looking around and noting that nobody had registered the outburst. They could not use curious eyes anyway, the attention would just have been another weight to carry and no one had time for that. Another set of minutes had went by as Wade watched the red head unlock the door, suddenly anger bubbling in him. Then they had rushed into the kitchen, both dashing to the side door, stepping into the cold weather day and shutting it close, Wade’s face turning even more sour.

Mark was already opening his mouth, but soon enough was confronted by an angry demand, seldom having heard Wade with that much disgust in his voice.

“Go tell him.”

As silence answered him, he got louder, more accusing.

“I knew you didn’t!! I KNEW you didn’t tell him! Go tell him right the fuck now or I’m going to murder you Mark,” Wade pressed out, both of his hands on his face, before he swung them to the side, “I don’t know how all of this could have come this far, I just know that he’s getting worse and worse. Whatever this is you’re playing, you have to tell him right now!”

“I’m not playing anything!”

“Then what is the issue?!?”

Mark rubbed his arm, as he stared at the ground and admitted: “I don’t know how to even start.”

“Start somewhere, anywhere! If you let him keep his hopes up he will actually fall apart!”

“I know that Wade!” Mark squeaked back, frustration written on his face, “I’m trying!”

“No, you are not! You are tip toeing around the issue! You need to talk and not fucking ignore each other!” Wade huffed out, his teeth bared, “Listening to each other is one thing but to talk it out is another! God, I thought you are the smart one!”

“I am!”

“Then why are you acting like a complete moron?!”

“Because I’m fuckING SCARED!”

That exclamation let some of the steam settle that Wade had been boiling up, Mark helplessly throwing his arms up.

“I’m scared alright?! I’m scared that when I tell Jack he will hate me! He will hate me, Wade!! I should have been better, I could have been better, but I messed up!”

Breathing hard, he crossed his arms as he hugged them to his chest, hushing out, “How can I expect him to forgive me for all this?”

“You were trying to help, you tried to please everybody. You were… just trying too hard.”

No response and Wade could only sigh, staring at the pavement. He could not be angry with the other, he knew exactly that Mark had just been doing damage control, it was in his nature. He did not have any right in getting angry with him for acting the way he did. He just cared, had learned to care, and he could not condemn him for that.

So he scratched his cheek, looking to the side and apologized.

“It’s just… really starting to get to me that you two are not getting it over with. I know it’s new for you to feel stuff, I shouldn’t have-“

“No, no…” Mark interrupted him, “No, you are absolutely right. I… I need to tell him, this can’t go on.”

“Do you need help with that?”

Mark swallowed dryly, actually considering the offer, before he shook his head and twisted his hands into each other, his face determined but just as unsure as before: “I have to tell him. I owe him the truth.”

And now that Mark had lost any kind of façade he had, Wade could easily read the honesty in him, as well the sheer guilt and hopelessness.

“I have to tell him there is no going back to Bo.”

Wade could not say anything to that as he just pointed back to the door, Mark staring at it, as if waiting for a sign from above to step in. He had been prolonging the inevitable for way too long and he was sure, whatever he said to his other half right now would destroy whatever bridge they had anyway.

Before he could actually move himself, both widened their eyes, hearing commotion, tables being shoved to the side, and people calling out. Soon after they could watch from the corner of the wall Jack run off down the street. Both were for a second too dumb struck, Wade noting the confused voices still inside, Teddy angrily yelling about wet clothes and how Jack will catch his death and the red head blinking. Then Mark followed him with the speed of a cheetah, Wade left in the dust, his arms extended and the words of “Wait up!” dying in his throat.

Before he could come up with anything else to say he just slapped his hand to the side of his head, staring at the open window behind him and groaning as he realized the other had listened in.

“Fan-fucking-tastic.”


	26. Overload

That Mark was running like the devil was chasing after him was an understatement.

Not even the one time where he had been looking for Wade he had put that much energy into his steps, trying to catch up to Jack, who somehow even with his stumbling was racing down the street. Both of them had left behind the café in mere minutes and the fountain was already visible ahead, the place empty because of the soon arriving rain. Some stands still stood, some decorations still hanging for there had not been enough time to fix everything up.

But that was unimportant.

Mark was starting to have trouble keeping his lungs working, breathing hard to pump oxygen into them, and trying his hardest to catch up, shooting one hand out, but Jack escaping his try. Just as he was about to give up, the green head crumbled to the ground, landing on the pavement with a loud thud. Mark almost stumbled over the folded form, jumping to the side, losing balance and landing on his rear, cursing himself while Jack was on his knees trembling.

Both were panting for a good while, before Mark yelled out, voice coming out as a squeal.

“What were you thinking?!” He gulped in another breath. “Why in fuck’s sake did you just run off like a bullet?!”

“Needed to get away.”

“From what?!?” Mark yelped, his hands shooting out in front of him, face crunched up as he tried to gasp for air, “It’s just been me and Wade! I just wanted to talk to you!”

But Jack kept his head lowered, scrapped hands moving from the asphalt as he put them on his knees, not daring to make eye contact.

“Jack, please,” Mark then let out with desperation, “The whole morning you’ve been acting like this. Acting like… like…”

“Like you.”

Mark blinked at the harsh tone the other used, observing the unmoving figure beside him. Numbly he noted the sky letting some rain fall, some drops plucking the street, but really, he actually couldn’t care less for it. He rather focused on the words the other had uttered, heavy as a blanket covering him, suffocating him.

“What?”

Now Jack’s head snapped up, as he started to glare, his eyes flashing in anger: “I’ve been acting like you. Dismissive, cold, how does that feel? Never knowing what is wrong and trying to find out what is wrong, what do you take from that? I didn’t say a word and you know why? Because big news.” His eyes fell away again. “You never do either.”

Mark was already starting to stand up as Jack kept kneeling, his face changing to a solemn one as he reached a hand out to help the green head up: “This is not the right time Jack. It’s starting to rain, I’ll ex-“

But Jack slapped his hand away with his own as he stumbled to his feet, shaking his head, Mark flinching at the hit. Regarding his hand with a hurt and almost fascinated expression, his blue bruised knuckles turning into angry black, he lifted his eyes to the other, who was slowly but surely making distance. He looked more than a frightened animal than the optimistic Right Brain Mark knew, hunched over and fists balled. As he tried to come closer Jack just stepped back further, not trusting him in his immediate distance.

“This is getting ridiculous,” Mark commented then, no anger or annoyance but worry lacing his voice, “You need to calm down.”

“Calm down?” Jack just spit out, starting to tremble, “After everything I should calm down?”

“I just want to explain, nothing more,” Mark tried to coax, “I know things are looking bad right now but if you would just give me a chance to-“

“You lied to me.”

Stopping in his tracks, Mark’s words caught up in his throat. All he could do was stare as Jack squeezed his eyes shut, biting his lips as if it would keep them from trembling as well. And it was as if the sky decided to open up in that moment, water dribbling down, Mark looking up with a frown as if to try to stop it.

Then he addressed Jack with a hard voice: “This has time later Jack, we need to get inside.”

“No.”

“Jack, you are being difficult, I just want to talk.”

“And lie some more?”

“Jack, I didn’t lie, I just didn’t tell you everyth-“

“As IF!”

Jack had never been this furious in his life, he could feel his heart beating out of his chest, teeth gritting. Nails dug into his injured palms as he watched Mark start to glare back at him and that somehow doubled the anger, the hair on his neck standing up. The pounding headache did not help a bit but it seemed to feed off the anger, his posture losing its stiffness and falling into itself.

“How long did you want to keep to yourself that this is all useless?”

“Jack…”

“All we did, all the running around and talking and fighting and making up. All of that doesn’t matter, does it?”

“It did matter,” Mark intervened, “This won’t get Bo back anymore, we both know that now, but all that we have learned was important. Didn’t you notice how much you have grown, how much I have grown? This wasn’t useless to us.”

But Jack curled into himself, his words lifeless: “How can you act as if this is all doing us good? How can you act as if we have learned something from this? We wanted Bo to be happy.” A sob left him as he let his head fall, pain racing its way through his heart and body, “And now you gave up.”

That Mark could not deny as he averted his eyes, Jack’s eyes overflowing with tears, rolling down his cheeks as he watched them fall on the asphalt with the rest of the sky. Hopelessness came dashing into him full force, he had been aware for the longest time that Mark had been hiding things from him, but he would not have thought that he would actually give up on bringing Bo back, a tornado of emotions swirling in him. He had thought they were doing so great with working together, had thought that making them both happy would do the trick. But now it seemed as if it was all just a gigantic, humourless prank.

“You gave up and you tried to hide it, lying to me,” he then hushed out, “You don’t care a bit do you?”

“Jack, it’s just…” he sighed, “I wanted to make things easier on you.”

As no answer came, he stepped forward, the rain falling harder and starting to soak them both. He could see the other was blocking him, not wanting to listen, the air freezing cold as it blew past them. The trees rustled, the wood of the stands creaked, the puddles underneath his feet never ceasing to run down the pathway. He knew he had to explain now, right now why he had done what he done, Jack needing to hear it from him this instant.

”Jack? Remember what I told you on the roof? Back at the train station?”

No movement, but Mark pressed on.

”I told you we both were mixed because of the computer, right? That I have some parts of you and you some parts of me because we were cut that way? That I have feelings and you rational thinking because of it?”

A small nod.

“That’s not how it went.”

Confused blinking was the response and Mark closed his eyes, not able to look at the other.

“We are one brain, we both control Bo as a unit. We have our own functions, we each have our own talents, we were meant to work together but the thing is, we didn’t. We never did. Because, for some reason, we didn’t need to. You were able to think for yourself on a rational level and I felt emotions before all of… this.”

He waved with his arms up and down to indicate the both of them.

“I lied to you because… I knew I shouldn’t be able to feel, the left side of a brain does not feel. As slight as it was, I became frustrated, I felt angry and I was scared for Bo and over the years? I decided to stop feeling altogether, forcing myself to push it down. My emotions got heavier and heavier and in the same breath as I denied mine, I denied yours.”

He lifted his hands as he put them on his chest, eyes watering and voice getting quieter, collecting himself.

“I didn’t know how to tell you. I didn’t know how I should explain myself, my actions over the years were logical to me, I was on the wheel. There was never a time where I considered changing things, to address the issue. I never assumed it all would come to this, I thought I could handle it.”

Right Brain shivered as the water ran down his back, a lightning strike flashing above them, the clouds dark, turning day into night.

“I was thick-skulled. When we split I had the thought that I could handle this on my own. I was so sure of myself that we could go on as we did and that my logic…” He hissed the word out with a disgusted voice. “…that it would be enough to get through life. I ignored you, I left you in my shadow, not wanting to accept reason, because I was scared. Because I should be the voice of reason and hearing it from somebody else was crippling me.”

Now Mark bit down on his tongue as he was the one to let the tears roll down, Jack watching with fascination and terror how they cascaded down and merged with the rain. He could not comprehend the situation, as the other was starting to sob. Loud, hard sobs that made his body shake and shoulders go up, hands clamping themselves over his chest.

He had never thought he would see Mark cry so openly at any point in his life.

This hurt so much.

So, so much.

He felt dizzy as Mark pushed through to say more, rubbing at his eyes and averting them to the side, clenching his teeth.

“And then I did listen. I listened to you like I should have from the very beginning. I started to accept that I was having fun, and I was starting to enjoy my time, instead of running around.” He almost smiled, forlorn, tears still escaping, before it died just as quick. “And I also accepted in that moment for the first time for what they were.”

He swallowed dryly.

“But… In this form, they get stronger with every day, rapidly. Watching you, you starting to use logic to your advantage, to argue with me, you starting to catch up to a contest that shouldn’t be allowed to exist? You starting to reason with situations we were put in, I confirmed what I already had found out.”

The moment he looked up he could see Jack connecting the dots himself, his own chest heavy and not being able to imagine what the other was going through. The weather around them was not letting up either as he sighed, hair stuck to their foreheads, wet to the bone and with every word he laid out between them trying to bridge the gap.

“After I lend Wade’s computer I found things that confirmed my suspicions. When I said that we were turning into our own personalities, I didn’t think it would go as far… The whole procedure was faulty and full of variables and…”

Jack was quiet at Mark gathered his thoughts.

“The whole laboratory is abandoned and broken down, I couldn’t figure out what happened to the people before us. If they were successful or not, I really don’t know. But… So many cases were stamped as failures, failures over two brain halves not able to communicate, to cooperate and that had to go their separate ways… For us it was all-”

“You are Bo.”

A deafening silence spread out as Mark regarded the other with a blank, shocked expression.

“What?”

“It turned out perfectly for you, didn’t it?”

“I don’t…”

“As you said, right? You were in control, you took the wheel, you had all the power that you wanted. You didn’t have to care about anybody, why even, you were enough for yourself, you didn’t need anybody,” Jack murmured, his voice flat, “I had asked you so many times if I could help, tried to tell you. And what did we learn? I got worthless to him because you are all that he needs.”

A dry laugh.

“Bo doesn’t need me to be happy, fuck it all, you don’t need me.”

“That’s not how it works.”

“What did you say back then? That Bo hates me? You are Bo, so you hate me.”

Mark shook his head, gritting his teeth: “I’m not Bo and I don’t hate you, Jack, I never did.”

“Says the one who fought with me for a whole week, pretended I didn’t exist for 10 years, ignored me our whole life.”

“Jack, this… my logic, my warped sense of it, doesn’t excuse the way I treated you over the years. It doesn’t excuse the way I treated you the last few days. It was wrong of me to assume that my actions had been acceptable. I was wrong, alright?” He took a breath, as he pressed: “I tried, I wanted us to become one again. But it won’t work and all we can do is try to be better, to become what Bo would have wanted to be. Bo doesn’t hate you. You are…”

“Useless.”

“No, you’re not-“

“I WAS!”

The scream made Mark snap his mouth shut once more, watching as the other gripped his face, his frame fragile as if one wrong touch could make him crumble to the ground like a house of cards. His breath was ragged, voice strained as he tried to screech out more but nothing leaving his throat. It was painful to watch but Mark was rooted to his place as the other tried to force words out.

“We went there because I wanted things to be FIXED! I wanted Bo fixed and what happened?? I BROKE him!”

The direction this was going made Mark flinch, trying to back-pedal.

“You can’t blame yourself for this. You did what you thought was needed, Jack.” His own voice hiccupped. “No one wanted this, no one wanted things to go as out of hand as they did. You wanted help, you wanted to be listened to. You didn’t want to fight for a place anymore.”

“And look what it brought us!” Jack swung his arms to the side, his eyes glassy. “This is what we are stuck with! This is what I did to us!”

“Jack, listen to me, you didn’t.”

“Yes I did!!”

“No!” Mark now yelled back, “You did not!”

“Are you fuckin’ KIDDING me?!” his words burned, digging their way through Mark’s heart, “You said it yourself! We went there because I couldn’t do my fucking job! And now both of us are our own person, because I was being a DUMB child! BECAUSE I AM THE IDIOT.”

The sob that fell from the others lips made Mark tear up harder, trying to say anything that could regain the green heads composure. But before he could come this far, Right Brain was already talking again, thunder booming over them and almost drowning out the cry that left him.

“If I hadn’t said anything, if I just had let you be in charge nothing of this would have happened. If I had let you work it out, if I hadn’t wasted our time we wouldn’t be here! Nothing would be wrong! NOTHING would have happened! Bo would be save, we wouldn’t have needed to go through all this if I just had kept my mouth shut! You were right!”

“No, I-“

“YES YOU WERE! You are always right, I should have known, I should have! You were trying so hard to work everything out and tried everything to get me to listen and what did I do?! I pulled you into this whole mess!”

Finally Mark managed to get closer, the other still too occupied with squeezing his hands against his skull. It were only a few steps between them, hand stretched out, but Jack suddenly dodged, a growl escaping his throat. Mark had just enough time to not lose balance before the green head was in front of his face, screaming anew at him.

“If you would have just told me!” he shook his head, this close to hitting the other, “I’m in the same boat as you, if anybody would have understood, then it’s me! If you would have just told me that I’m not needed, I wouldn’t have been such a pain in the ass!”

But Mark was shaking his head harshly, wanting to tell Jack that he was wrong, that Bo did need him and that they both just had wanted the best for Bo. But how could he explain that to such a distraught Right Brain, not listening to anything he was saying? Again hopelessness gripped him, his throat raw as he screamed back.

“YOU WOULDN’T HAVE UNDERSTOOD ANYTHING! YOU STILL DON’T UNDERSTAND, BECAUSE IF YOU WOULD JUST LISTEN-!”

“FINE! MAYBE I DON’T UNDERSTAND BUT I SURE FEEL HOW SHIT EVERYTHING IS!”

Marks heart dropped as new tears leaked out from the other, the rain doing a semi-well job in hiding the fat droplets falling off of his chin.

“But I’m even too dumb for that, aren’t I…?”

Mark was this close to use his hand to wipe the streaks away, this close to finally apologizing for having made him feel that way. Now that the other was exhausted by their arguing, tired of talking he could bring him somewhere safe, back home, tell him how sorry he was. He could apologize for not having let Jack speak up when the time had called for it, could assure him that somehow they still could figure something out. The chance to say that neither of them had any say in this and that they could just start new.

But then an electrical jolt made him step away, yelping out as he glanced at his knuckles that flared up.

Before he could really register more, his fingers burning, Jack had dashed away, Mark trying to get a hold of him and missing him by a heartbeat. He was only able to watch as Jack disappeared in one of the side streets, disappearing from sight by a blockade of houses, gone in an instance. The red head did not see much reason to follow the distraught Right Brain, knowing that talking to him in this state was going to end up in more tears, his hand falling to the side.

It was not Jack’s fault, but he must have felt like it had been since the beginning.

Or at least since he had told him it was.

Mark was this close to breaking someone’s neck, mainly his own.

Jack could never bear losing Bo like this, even if Mark would be able to tell him everything, explain everything that happened to them, he would never forgive himself. There was no hope left, nothing left for them to do.

Nothing but for Left Brain to wait for Right Brain to come back after he cooled down and then drag him to Vinestone, forcing that computer to cooperate.

Going back to the root of the problem was the only solution, his fists clenching as he made his way home, kicking stones on his way. He did not care the slightest bit on how long it would take, how dangerous it might turn out in the end. He needed to get to the computer, see if there was anything he could do to fuse them back and to fix this mess, carding his hand through his tousled hair to keep it away from his smudged glasses.

He was not going to let things sit as they were without doing every possible thing.

He was not going to give up.

Not now.

The only thing he wished in this instance was that Bo had learned how to drive a car, staring at the church and knowing they would have to take a bus.

That’s going to be awkward.

Great.


	27. At The Edge A Countdown Is Ticking

Right Brain felt incredibly sick.

He had never felt this sick in his life before and even if, this was a hundred times worse than just feeling sick.

He could not believe Bo was gone.

He could not believe that Mark had given up.

He could not believe that he had made him cry.

Thinking straight was impossible to him, his hand looking for a wall to push his weight into, trying to keep standing upright. When he found cold brick stone beneath his fingers he took his other hand, clamping it around his stomach, trying to will away the pain that seemed to slosh there. Every fibre of his being felt like on fire, his legs trembling, his hands sweating and cold, head pounding and teeth clattering. Between feeling sick and trying not to get sick all over the floor he tried to breath, ragging and scratching puffs beating against his throat.

He had not come far but god he felt like as if he had just run a marathon.

He had no idea where he was running to, pushing his head upwards as he stared at the street that stretched out in front of him. He noted how the houses were towering above him, flowers in their boxes letting their heads hang and the rain pipes clinking and rattling. Facing the sky he was pelted by drops, pitch black expanse above him. Every way he looked darkness surrounded him, shadows of trashcans and stairs hiding just beside him. It took him a moment to realize where he was, the coloured doors and windows matching up to his memories.

He wanted to be alone.

Honestly, he was not sure if Mark would come after him after everything Jack had done. He had screamed at him, at first accused him of not caring enough about Bo and then screaming at him for having cared too much about his sake. Jack should have known that Mark had just tried to help him, that he had put up with him because he wanted to make it easy on him. He should have known, but he had been an idiot, thinking he knew better.

Because he thought he knew better they ended up in this mess.

Stumbling forward he thought about places where he could be at peace, somewhere where no one would go. He did not want to talk, he did not even want to see anybody else anymore. He was too tired, too tired to have to explain to anybody what was going on. He wanted to hide, wanted to let the world pass by and never have to look at it ever again. There was no reason to anymore.

His stomach lurched and he gripped the corner of the wall, white knuckled and breathing hard, staring at his feet with accusation.

He just needed to get somewhere quiet.

Needed to go somewhere abandoned.

Somewhere where he could just be.

The path was long, his vision blurring as he followed it with his eyes, mist creeping up on his ankles. The rain had gotten lighter, the screen of white lines slowly dispersing as he saw the darkness of the forest stretch out on the horizon. Black as coal the trees stood still, not even the harsh wind having the strength to move them and for a moment they stood clear as day, Jack only focused on the needles.

Everybody despised the forest.

It was dark, cold, even in the hottest of summers, and you only went in if you wanted to film a horror flick, like the towns folk loved to do. One step away from the river and you were prone to getting completely lost, every tree looking the same, the smell of rotten leafs and grass engulfing the place like a trusty companion. The deeper you went, the less the chance was for anybody to follow you, the dense undergrowth making you think twice of setting foot in it.

Perfect.

But still, the way there was an effort, Jack dragging his feet along the ground, his cloths clinging to him like a second skin. Leaving the house walls behind he missed the support they gave him, his body slightly swaying as if he could not make sense of the weight and length of his legs, his brain feeling like liquid in between his ears. For some reason however, even though his stomach was rebelling and his head was beating like a drum, his cheek hurt the most, letting a hand hover over it, the burn feeling like somebody had put a hot iron on it.

He refrained from touching it, his skin irritated, feeling like it could fall off into strips.

He hoped Mark did not hurt his fingers too much.

Jack had no clue on why it had happened, the sudden jolt, but he also could not care less for it. Rather he focused on the fact that Mark must have felt the pain too, by the yelp he had given off from him. The green head did not have enough time to make sure if the other had been alright as he had run away, having needed to get away, his inner-self screaming at him to do so. The distance he had made had been laughable, but he was glad to hear that the other was not right behind him, no footsteps, just dripping water.

Good, he did not want to be found.

Remembering how he had gotten to the edge of the park, leaving the hills behind, it was just all a hazy mess. The only thing he figured out was that he was back at the hidden centre the kids had made for everybody and he looked around with a dim understanding of accomplishment. But even though he had made it here, he had to go farther, knowing Mark would at some point go look for him here. His heart made a small lurch at that, the other always looked out for him, and he shook his head as he stared at the blown out candles and lanterns. For a tiny moment he felt uplifted about the fact that everything was dry in here, the lanterns all still intact and the candles just slightly sunk into the ground, but seeing them with no light made the feeling vanish just as fast.

It was depressing to think about how much fun they have had.

Another pound against his head made him stumble and he fell forwards, hitting the ground with his knees, body curling up. Pain shot through him, starting at the base of his neck and racing down his spine, as if his back was deciding to turn into an electrical eel. Fists curled around the brown, dead leaves he grit his teeth together, slowly pulling his legs from underneath his body, the water soaked cloths making it more difficult as it was anyway. With a push he got up, one hand around his chest, the other outstretched, trying to get a hold on the tree in front of him.

Nails dug into bark and he sighed, glad he was able to stand, the shudder going numb as he looked up and watched the river beside him flow. Bo had always admired how fast the water was and how clear, springing out of the ground and rushing away as if it was trying to find a companion in the darkness of the forest. Now however Jack felt as if the water was incredibly slow, moving like sluggish goo, leaves and sticks swimming in it and being driven softly forwards, the rush of the water a mere splashing and burbling. Stones glittered beneath the surface, tufts of grass here and there, looking lost.

He decided that he would just follow the river.

And as he did so, he started to look around, the pain still here but starting to lessen.

Or maybe he was just getting used to it, he could not really tell.

Bo had never dared to go further than the centre right behind him, his parents having told him more than enough times that it was dangerous and that he could get hurt or lost. The one time he had dared to go with his friends they had been so disappointed in him that he swore to never go deeper than he already had.

But Jack was not Bo.

And losing himself in his thoughts he walked into seemingly everything, gigantic rocks that littered the ground, having rolled off from the mountains to this point, overgrown with moss and mushrooms or knocking into bushes with his feet, thorns bringing him back to the present. Everything was grey and dark, the only light source he had was the hole behind him where he had gone through. No twilight from above, the canopy too dense, and as he stared back he could see the glimmering city, lights going on and off, orange and white.

Staring at the ground he wondered if he should turn back.

He was regretting that he had run off like he did.

Maybe it was not too late to go back.

Lifting his head however something caught his eye and he blinked. Curiosity gripped him, the river sounding different than before and he dared to step further. His eyes roamed the place slowly, another centre opening up before him, the river turning into another, smaller version of the lake he knew. Trees grew around it, encircling it with their roots and a bit further ahead he could see the river go on as before. It looked like as if the water made a small pit stop before deciding to run further.

But Jack was more caught off guard by the amount of small objects circling in the pond.

Once again he went to his knees, but this time slowly, his hands reaching out into the water, trying to get a hold of a root beside him to lean forward. Sticking his tongue out he stretched and stretched, shaking slightly and knowing that his anchor was starting to give way.

Then he was able to pick it up, water dribbling down his arm as he lifted it.

The paper swan.

The horde of paper boats they had unleashed in the last few days was still circling here, trying to get away in the current but having not managed to do so. Around and around they went, already so wet that they were starting to fall apart, soaked and turning into small, thin fibres.

The swan had not been safe either, as Jack gingerly held it, staring at it with a hollow feeling in his chest, suddenly being filled up with everything he had ever felt.

The last few days swarmed his mind, the happiness of being around the children and in town, the melancholy of not being able to talk sense into his other half. The smugness he felt when he had thrown Mark into the pond, the panic when he had been in Bo’s room, the jealousy of him never getting Mark’s name right while he did easily. The pure joy and proudness after having made Mark laugh, the disappointment and hope he had after not being able to be on stage.

The pure emotion of having failed them both, regret, guilt.

It was all too much to bear, his hand crushing the remains of the swan and letting it fall into the lake once more, the crumbled form hovering on the surface for a second before it sank like a stone to the ground.

Soon enough drops of tears followed, the lake rippling again and again, the silence that engulfed him filled by sobs. Jack buried his hands into the grass beneath him, clawing up mud, as he tried to ease the tightness in his chest. Tears blurred his vision, mist surrounding him from every side and he bit his lip. He did not want to be sad right now, he did not want to feel anything right now, trying to keep his breath and willing Left Brain’s voice into his head.

Before everything it was so easy, so easy to just listen to him. He did not have to deal with anything he had just been watching. Of course he felt useless but Bo had been fine, he had been alive. Maybe he had been unhappy but he was here.

He had been here.

He did not want to cry, forcing himself to hear Mark telling him to “Calm down. This is not helpful. This is stupid. You are just wasting your time and your breath. When have tears ever helped anything? Pull yourself together.”

Of course it was not helpful.

Of course crying did not get him anywhere.

But it hurt.

It hurt so much keeping his emotions in all the time, to keep his mouth shut.

Why could he have not been stronger? He could have listened to Left Brain and all would have been fine. Why did he have to step so out of line? If it were not for him, nothing of all this would have happened. He had not kept himself in check and now there was no going back.

His wish to be included had done that to them. His wish to find his place had done that to them. But there was no place for him.

He did not belong.

He just was not needed.

It was like another hit to the head and he could not stand it, could not stand the silence and could not stand the pain as he gripped the earth underneath his fingers and let out an anguished scream, his voice echoing off into the distance.

Sorrow, so clear and distressed, that it could have rattled souls, burst out of his lungs and he buried his head between his arms as he sat there crouched, his body turning into a ball. He started to weep, only a single, distant memory coming close to the pain he was going through and he wanted to run as far as possible. Run and run because it always had been easier to run, he should have kept running. Misery settled onto him, and he screamed again, screamed out so he could stop thinking and feeling and just stop everything altogether, hoping that the noise could echo and become louder, get thrown back at him so he would get lost in it.

But the streets were wiped clean, the rain having done its job in forcing everybody inside, working or staring outside in hopes to will the grey away. The village centre was abandoned, empty, and Mark had rammed the door behind him shut with pent up frustration, ruffling his hair to calm down as he stepped into the threshold of Bo’s house.

He should have known that not telling the truth and withholding information would backfire on him, but again, he always had been too thick-skulled to be healthy and he kicked the carpet underneath him with a huff. With Jack outside and letting out steam he just hoped he would be back before too long. As upset as the other was, he would always come back. Maybe because it was in their nature, maybe because Mark just knew Jack felt just as guilty as him, he had no clue, but the green head was sure to return. Also because he literally had nowhere to go, Mark did not assume he would start a new life out of the blue.

Unless he wanted him out of his sight permanently, but he shoved that thought far back, knowing Jack enough that he would never have the heart to act like that.

Or well, he hoped he had not changed on that front.

In his fruitless attempts to calm down himself, already forming discussions that would follow as soon as Jack was home, he walked up into Bo’s room, throwing himself facedown into the mattress. His glasses dug into his skin but he just sighed, knowing whatever he said Jack would get even more worked up. He had tried so hard to prevent exactly that but again.

Destiny was a bitch.

The computer, too, for that matter.

He heaved again, his breath starting to suffocate him and he pulled his head to the side, his sight falling onto the laptop on the nightstand. For a hot minute he wondered if smashing it would relieve some stress, but then again, punching the computer had not helped either, his hand still black and blue. Then again, some dumb, mindless scrolling could maybe silent his musings and before he knew it he rolled on his back, sat up and balanced the device on his knees, powering it up.

Immediately his stomach dropped, because, Jesus Christ, what was he even looking at?

For a moment he just stared at a barricade of white pop-ups and black numbers, underneath flashing red and green signs, Mark jumping a bit. Soon enough he got himself back on track and he traced what he was seeing, starting to try to organize the assault that the poor laptop was enduring. Clicking here and there, knitting his eyebrows into a frown, he shoved piles of white boards to the side, blinking. When he cleared his way half way and tapped on the obvious, green boxes to read up what they successfully accomplished he frowned even more. Then he turned to the red check mark in the middle, which was beckoning him, his curiosity boiling under his skin and he snorted.

Oh, that was funny actually, Jack must have unconsciously called him Mark for check marks.

Or not, because that means he always had thought Left Brain was the correct one.

God, he had disappointed him so much.

Mark heaved another sigh and he was presented with a list and pictures, scanning over them, settling his crooked glasses neatly on his nose to read better.

At first glance he was not entirely surprised to stare at three silhouettes, clearly depicting Bo, Jack and himself all side by side. He rolled his eyes a bit at the fact that Bo seemingly towered over them but let it rest as he recognized the human insides of his former self, with organs like heart and stomach as well as bones and a list showcasing fluids and his nervous system. Clearly everything was there where it should be, minus the brain. That vital organ was clearly split in two and set in each of their bodies, which were on the other hand absolutely empty.

That made him backtrack a bit, as he let that sentence run again.

They were empty.

Or, well, it seemed like they were filled with fluid.

His eyes went up again and on his second scan he realizes that the only thing human they had was their brain and nothing else and he stopped to think about it. That made sense, now that he actually and truly thought about it; what even were their bodies? He had never stopped to ask himself on this whole endeavour how it was possible for a computer to create two human bodies out of thin air, too preoccupied with trying to get the original back.

Staring at his knuckles he noticed his scratched up skin and he rubbed a bit at it, realizing that it was very close to skin but something just seemed off. As if there was something unmistakably syntactical about it and in the same breath not.

Robots then.

Which really, again, did not surprise him, it was just a nice fact.

He was getting distracted.

Once more his focus was on the laptop and he wondered if the pop up texts were just there to mock him. That the computer indeed decided to leave the two brain halves separate and, now he learned, in their robot bodies. But according to the pictures that assumption was soon thrown overboard and he tried to make sense of the lights and numbers, leaning forward once more. It seemed as if the two bodies flickered and numbers ran at the side and for a moment he just sat there and watched, captivated by the lights.

It was hilarious to him how he just now really understood the meaning of mindless entertainment. If he was honest with himself he could just have continued to watch the numbers cascade down for years, without bothering to decode them. It was not exactly fun but it was numbing and watching Jack’s tiny silhouette blink bright blue was somehow comforting. Still he wondered why his light seemed to be so much dimmer than his own, red one. Or why Bo’s, who at the start had been completely shut down started to glow, too. The more he watched, hand under his chin and observed he finally started to see a pattern.

Then he dropped his jaw as he almost tossed the laptop to the side, his face in shock, before he scrambled to the side, throwing himself forward with his hands outstretched to catch the thing from its fall.

His half brain tried to catch up with what he had seen and then suddenly a coin dropped.

And so did the laptop as he laid on his stomach and let it fall onto the sheets, staring ahead with a look that indicated horror, whispering out a meek: “Oh.”

The computer was not going to delete Bo.

It was going to delete one of them.

Which made sense because you can not delete a human body out of flesh and blood.

A robot on the other hand you could.

And it was logical as well.

Because if two halves made replacements of their other half from their birth on, they each turned into a person. And the two people that were created had to be each Bo, there were two Bo’s. So to put one brain half back in with all the functions of the other was reasonable to a piece of metal. Because in theory, it was as if nature had tried to squeeze in two of the same brains into one body, which sounds like absolute idiocy, if he had not known better he would have laughed at the idea.

And Mark remembered what he had asked for, that he had asked for it to bring Bo back, the computer replying with: “I do have a solution.”

A solution to bring Bo back, yes, but with consequences.

And Mark had been so used to doing everything, he had an easier time to get a hold of his emotions than Jack did of logic. He had repressed him and so he was the one the computer deemed as more functional.

It regarded him as Bo.

And Right Brain as the redundant part.

Jack had been right.

Mark had made him useless.

His heart, or whatever was equal in his metal body, whatever it was under his chest that was suddenly beating widely, a pump, a core, he had no clue, but it lurched and he could have spit it out of his mouth. Things were out of control. Jack was out there, alone, being pulled apart and thrown away without even knowing why.

Maybe that is why he had been feeling sick.

Maybe he had felt it would come to this.

But Left Brain would not let it that was for sure.

He still had a chance, now that the computer seemed to put its energy into destroying Right Brain he had the chance to get behind its processor, could start reprogramming it.

He had a chance.

Then he ran.

Trying to keep his breath in as he raced through the bedroom, eyes flying around, he ran. With some disdain he noted the repeating pattern in his actions, always racing, always running away and he started to hate it, started to understand why Jack was so cross with it. But he did not have time for those musings, instead forming a plan.

He can reprogram the computer, he could still fuse them together.

He needed Jack to be with him when it merged them again. Finding him was a race against the clock.

He also had to hope he would understand the mechanics of a car, able to drive it. They could not wait for the bus or train, he needed a transport vehicle and they had to leave now.

Why had Bo never learned how to drive?

Of course, because he was scared of driving people over.

Would he drive people over?

He pushed that thought aside just as fast as it had come, he had to focus now.

He had to focus on bringing the real Bo back.


	28. Good Night, I Lost My Other Half Again

“Where is he…?”

Mark had been mumbling that one sentence since the moment he had stumbled out of the building, continued with running around for places Jack could have run off to. Level-headed he systematically had gone through his labyrinth of a village, ticking off every possibility one after the other that was available to him. He hoped Jack did not leave the village, on one hand he knew he had nowhere to go to and on the other hand prayed he had not just taken the next best bus to escape.

Stopping for a single second he actually hoped that some sort of deity, any deity really, was hopefully looking over them, that they would be okay.

Then he continued his search, even more determined.

But that was much harder than it sounded, walking around, wondering where the other could have gone. He was probably crying somewhere or maybe he had been already overwhelmed by the computer. If that was the case he must have looked for a place to be alone, to mourn, somewhere where he could feel safe to let himself go. Home was not an option, Mark had been there, had the key and he supposed that the other would not go anywhere near where he would be easily found.

Mark got nervous, thinking and over-thinking where the other might be.

“I can’t believe I lost him,” he then started to chide himself, exiting the train station and still being empty-handed, “I can’t believe… Why didn’t I look after him? Why didn’t I run after him?” He gripped his hair as he scratched through it, trying to keep his emotions at bay. “I should have known, I should have known goddammit!!”

His eyes were over-looking the place he was standing in and stood still, needing to calm himself. Just now he noted that the rain had finally stopped, his hair wet, his cloths as well, but he had a better view. The mist that had gathered was slowly ebbing away, crawling its way back into the lake and the shadows as Mark put his hand to his chin, calculating, brewing.

“Where…?”

He asked himself that over and over again.

He could not be home, he could not be at the café.

He was not here or in the centre.

He would not just walk around the side streets, he would be scared of anybody crossing his path.

Was he at the park?

Walking towards it he wondered, where would he hide?

In a tree, perched up and hidden by the leaves? In a bush? Would he be at the lake?

“Where is he?”

Nothing, no sign of him and he was getting desperate.

“Think. Come on that’s the one thing you were made for, think.” He closed his eyes, taking his glasses, pulling them off as he cleaned them with his shirt, letting his mind wander. “Where would he go to take comfort? A place where he’s alone, where he can just be himself…”

Now he squeezed his eyes shut.

“Where would Bo go to…?”

Opening them he stared at the dark forest, the blur he had come accustomed to gradually getting sharper, another side-effect of the computer trying to fix things. He hated the fact, his face turning sour but setting the glasses back, the familiar feeling on his nose giving him some sort of support. There while he continued staring at the forest, reminding himself that Jack could very well be there. They did decorate the place, and the forest was forbidden terrain. If he would go somewhere, then there, right?

“Please…”

He walked over the hills as he stepped into the dome, his head snapping around, hoping that he would see the green head somewhere, anywhere.

“Please… Please Jack, please be here.”

He had not much more time left, he had to take Jack back as fast as possible, but if he was wasting time here, he could be too late.

“You like the green of the park, you like the coloured leaves, you love the children, you love the paper boats and the lake come on…”

And finally his heart made a jump as he saw the familiar form huddled beside the river, Mark gasping.

“Jack!!”

He was unable to even form a real sentence to explain the sheer relief he felt, his chest finally losing the knot that had built itself, as he jogged over, trying to push away the bushes and twigs, his words, which were tumbling in his brain, falling out of his mouth.

“God, I’m so glad to see you, I’ve been worried!” Mark swallowed heavily as he steadily made his way up to him, hands clenching, “You have no idea how long I’ve been looking for you, I am so sorry for just letting you run off like that. I should have known it was a bad idea, I’m just glad you set your tent here instead of some random place! We have to get back!”

Mark let the thorny traps behind him, shacking his leg to get the cloth away from it, as he was close enough to stop his ramblings, realising how Jack had curled himself up into a ball. The green head had not taken notice of him and he blinked in confusion, tongue feeling heavy.

“Jack? Jack, can you hear me?”

The red head continued forward, slowly, as if he was going to disrupt a serene picture. A heavy feeling settled in between his ribs, as he reached a hand out, a worried frown coming to his features.

“Come on,” he tried again, “We have to get moving now. Right now.”

Then he crouched down next to him, studying him from the side but only observing the fact that his face was covered by his green hair, body still and unmoving. His hands were curled around his knees, head settled on them and Mark gulped as he moved his hand to the other’s shoulder. He wanted to shake him out of it, wanted to see if he was hurt around the middle, maybe the computer had already shut him down and he needed to see if he was even breathing still.

Only an electrical shock was his answer, running through his arm, making him flinch and jump back, staring at his fingers as if they had been cut off.

He swallowed hard, as he unconsciously began to tremble, watching as Jack’s frame, where he had put his hand on, cut apart to squares, only after a few moments settling back. It was as if watching an old TV screen searching for a signal, failing to do so, or for a video game to suddenly break into pixels. But disturbing was that Jack did not react to it, as if it was not happening to him, no shock or pain detectable.

Blue squares blinked in and out of existence all over him before they settled back and Mark bit his tongue, wondering on what he should do.

“You don’t need me.”

The voice had been soft, so quiet and careful that Mark might have missed it if it were not for the fact that he had tried to listen for anything in the silence. His body shivered at the coolness, blinking as Right Brain curled himself tighter around his legs, repeating his words.

“You don’t need me… Bo doesn’t need me, he’s better off with you.”

“Jack, please, you have to listen to me,” Mark crouched down lower, afraid if he touched him he would make him vanish, his head tilted in a try to see under his bangs, “We don’t have time for this. We need to get back to the computer and fix this. I will fuse us back, I promise.”

“I’ll mess up again…”

Mark reached out, despite his own warning, but the electrical shocks rushing through his arm were too much, blinking as the shoulder of his other half deteriorated further, his entire body flickering for mere seconds. It had not been long, if you had blinked you might have missed it, but Mark did. The sounds that the other gave off from himself were not normal either, rasped breaths but a buzzing noise in the background, as if something was whirring in his voice, vibrating.

“You are already disintegrating…”

Mark was having a hard time to come to terms with the fact that Jack was actually flickering in and out of existence, a human body detaching itself as if it was suddenly nothing more than a mere illusion. They were obviously Bo, they were his brain sides, and Bo was obviously human, but these bodies were not a part of his. Their structure and their faces, their eyes and their hair, they did not remind of Bo in the slightest. The two of them did not even fit each other. It was not because that is what they looked like, brains did not have different body types. It was not because they carried different genes in their DNA and that could be the reason why they looked so vastly different.

If Mark had just stopped sooner to just think, he would have known they were just like the robots walking down the streets picking up trash. That is why he had been so extremely careful that they would not damage themselves, had unconsciously been dismissing food and sleep at the beginning, knowing without really knowing those suits had no need for organic material to work. Any kind of natural light was enough to keep them going, mainly the sun, which even behind clouds and rain was still able to reach whatever sensitive solar panels they had implemented.

Well, it also had to do with the fact that he was the left brain side.

It was in his nature.

It did not matter.

He was losing time.

He had to act fast.

They were trapped in incredibly realistic human like constructions, robotic-jars with metal legs and arms and with half a brain in it, with his most important problem being that the computer was able to pull all plugs. It was so incredibly easy for it to just throw one half away and put one half back into Bo’s body, which must still be somewhere in the facility, hidden away.

But Jack did not seem to be concerned about that at all, his voice less of a groan but more of a soft buzzing, as he stuttered out a small: “Sorry for running off.”

“No, no, no…” Mark waved with his hands, “I was the asshole. Don’t be sorry.”

“I’m still sorry…” Jack had to gasp for air as he stared up at Mark, eyes barely kept open and pupils glowing. “I’m sorry for doing this to us. I’m sorry Left-…” He started laughing hollowly, his chest heaving and eyes crinkled, “Mark. It’s still Mark.”

“Come on, Jack…” Mark trembled, his own name now sounding wrong in Jack’s mouth, absolutely out of place, “We have to get back and put ourselves together. I know a way now, you just need to trust me and I’ll take it from there.”

But Jack shook again, particles jumping out of his frame as Mark had to duck, heart hammering against his ribcage. He felt something push him back, as if he was fighting a magnet with the same polarity and he gritted his teeth as he tried to get closer once more.

“He’ll be unhappy. He’ll be happy with you.”

“Jack, don’t be ridiculous!” Mark only barked as he fought against the enormous push, “Bo is the two of us, you are a part of him, you need to be here! Without you I can’t be Bo, he will die without you!”

“Maybe that’s for the better.”

And that was the moment Mark chocked.

“You are so much better Mark, you concentrate, you work and you can do anything you set your mind to.” A sigh escaped him, pressed, like a whine. “What do I do? I should be here for emotions, but I can’t even do that right. He always hides them, I never know how to react to anything, I don’t know how.”

“Because you didn’t learn how to, Jack, but you will. I will help you this time,” Mark pleaded as he watched the other pull at is jeans, struggling for breath, “We’ll help each other. Teamwork, remember?”

Another shaky intake of air and Mark felt a cold wave hit his face, blinking at the sharp sensation that tugged at his face.

Then Right Brain’s arms got slack, his head lolling forward and starting to fall to the side, Mark, despite feeling like as if a thousand bees were stinging his arms, catching him mid-air, hindering him in hitting the ground with the side of his body.

The first thing Mark noticed was that Jack was cold, cold and damp, and he was staring in disbelieve as the green head continued to glitch in and out of existence, making his stomach churn in fear as he realised that the other had his eyes open but was unseeing. Waving his hand, Jack did not react to it, instead blue light emitting from him like he was a Christmas light.

Mark knew what was going on but it did not make the situation any less terrible.

He had to get him back, no matter what.

Frozen in place, he bit down the warm feeling rising to his eyes.

Now was not the time to get emotional.

He could cry later.

Why could a robot even cry, what purpose did that serve?

As he stood up, he tried to push the other with him, hands under Jack armpits. Realizing that Jack would not stand up on his own, he changed his tactic, standing up fully first, before bending down so he could put one hand under Jack’s knees and the other around his shoulder blades. Hefting him up was an easy feat, he was light and Mark stood awkwardly on the shifting, muddy ground, trying to find his balance.

Mark shuddered at the prickly feeling in his arms, but care he did not the slightest bit.

Now he felt the cold seep through his cloths, as if it radiated off from the other and he looked down at the green head, head leaning on his chest, face turned to the side, staring into the distance with a faraway look. Mark was getting lightheaded, too much information and emotions swirling in the pit of his stomach, and as he followed the gaze, noticing the boats, he knew he had to move, leaving the paper behind in the darkness.

Jack did not really comment about being carried around, he did not even comment about the fact that Mark was trembling, less from the weight but because he was trying to keep a brave face. He could not really run with Jack glitching, joisting him too much maybe furthering the process. But having to carry the other, it was hard to stay calm. Soon he had to rest, the tingling in his arms too much and he was actually glad to see the old bench where he had his own break down, leaning down and settling Jack on the seat, who had his eyes closed, for some reason puffs of air leaving him. Mark had to shake his arms out, the feeling of a thousand ants crawling up and down and he looked around, thinking of his next step.

The only thing he needed was a vehicle now.

He could not wait for the bus.

Could not wait and could not explain the fact that Jack was flickering like a dying lamp to other passengers, who would be driving with them and would be able to pick up the fact that something incredibly weird was going on.

Not an option, no.

If Bo just had a working car going, then he would not be in this predicament.

But driving a car and remembering the nit-picks of it was too much when you had your mind on more important things than a piece of metal.

Even though Bo never wanted to drive a car, it did not mean he had not listened to Wade’s endless tries to figure out what part of the car what was and how he should react to signs that appeared on the street while learning for his licence. That he roped Bo into asking him questions, holding the cards and flipping them as soon as he had answered correctly or taking him on rides also made a difference.

But it was still dangerous.

Would Mark be even able to start it?

What if the battery died on him on the way?

Or something else went wrong?

Well, if anything, the car he needs would surely have enough fuel.

He knocked his hand to the side of his head, as he tried to focus, thinking about what he needed, now needed.

Wade.

Wade would surely help him, he did have a car and he would help him to turn it on in a jiffy if he really failed at that first step.

The rest, too, for that matter.

And he was surely home at this hour, which was literal two streets away from where he was, taking one look back at Jack. For a moment he was reluctant to just leave him here, but he did not really have a choice as he went to fetch his friend. One knock, two knocks, but on the other side of the door nothing, and Mark stopped counting, banging his fist against the wood until hurried steps could finally be heard.

“What?!” Wade half screamed, half yawned, prepared to knock out whoever was awake at this hour asking for him, before he saw Mark, his face turning surprised.

“I need your help.”

“Wait, what even happened after Jack raced down the street? I didn’t see hair or skin of you afterwards,” Wade dazedly asked, leaning against the doorframe, rubbing at his eyes, not even having had enough time to put his sweater on, “What do you need?”

“I need your car.”

“What?”

“As I said.”

Wade slowly let his hand fall that had been rubbing at his eye, as he frowned at Mark. His eyes jumped around him, noticing the wet cloths, the muddied knees, frazzles hair and half smudged, half cleaned glasses, his frown deepening.

“Bo can’t drive,” he finally uttered.

“I know,” Mark retorted.

Wade paused as he empathized his words, leaning forward: “… You can’t drive.”

“I know that, too.”

“Mark, I have three kids over whose parents will come by. I can’t drive you anywhere, what even… Take the bus.”

“I can’t. I need a vehicle.” Mark frowned, before he rephrased his sentence. “Bo cannot drive but I do know the basics. It really depends on what you call “being able to drive”.”

Wade didn’t miss a beat as he replied with: “Having a licence.”

“No, then I can’t. But I have to.”

Wade was about to ask more, wanting to get to the bottom of this encounter, but Mark held him by the arm, as his face turned pleading.

“Just trust me.”

With that the brunette sighed, as he mumbled under his breath: “I wouldn’t drive you even if I didn’t have them here, look how late it is. And I would think thrice about letting you use it if I weren’t so sleepy, just so you know.”

Mark smiled slightly, as he replied: “You’re just as bad at lying as we are.”

Wade just slapped his hand on Mark’s shoulder with a small smile of his own, taking the keys from the wall and holding them up. As he was about to step into his shoes however, words ready to tell Mark that he wanted to drive him anyway, the kids would be okay for a few hours, Mark gripped them and dashed away. Wade watched him run down the small pathway, turning his car on, and he took a double take, racing after him, jumping halfway to get his other shoe on.

“Wait, wait!” he called then, his hand stretched out and gripping the door so it would not close on his face, “Take me with you!”

“You have kids here, you just said.”

“Yeah, but you can’t drive?!”

“I will make it work.”

“What the absolute fuck, Mark.”

“Wade.”

Both stared at each other and the atmosphere could have been cut with a knife, Wade gripping the door, while Mark had his one hand on the key, the other on the wheel.

“Trust me.”

“I do trust you.”

“Take care of the kids then, don’t worry.”

That made the other slump his shoulders, as he loosened his fist, Mark shutting the door close.

As Mark pulled out of the driveway, Wade stood there almost in a daze, his mind trying to catch up with what was happening, before he screamed after the other who had somehow in his tries to understand the car pulled down the window.

“What do you need a car even for?! Where are you going?! Where is Jack?!?”

“I don’t have time, but Bo will explain everything to you when he’s back!”

“What!?!”

And with that Mark was gone, Wade still in his black shirt, staring after him driving off. He was not even sure how long he stood there, with his mouth open, before he let his arms lift then fall, as if he could not believe what just transpired.

“Bo better gives me back my car or he’s dead.”


	29. The Calm Car Ride Before The Storm

Driving the car was a lot easier than Mark had anticipated, slowly getting used to the speed and the fact that every bump in the road made the car hiccup, lowering his fear of getting lost in thought.

What did not get easier was the fact that Jack beside him was unconscious, the air thick and the silence suffocating.

He would have loved to feel proud of the realization that he was indeed able to drive.

Or would have loved to be satisfied that he had found Jack just in time.

But he just felt dread and pain and fear.

Driving a car while having to concentrate on more important matters was horrendous.

He was much faster than any bus was, he had to admit, but he was freaking out as he sat behind the wheel, heart beating for every reason imaginable. He checked the mirrors, checked how the wheel turned and listened to the sound spluttering horribly whenever he changed gears, Mark sighing. He could only speak of luck that nobody had stopped him, yet, the way he tried to stay straight on the street just making him look like he was drunk. But with robots patrolling, he should not have to worry, he hoped at least anyway.

He had not enough time to really appreciate the night as he drove into it, the lamps at the side of the road the only thing illuminating the way. The car itself had not a single working bulb, and he counted every lucky star he had that it was still able to splutter along the way, a danger in every single way, but the only thing he had available.

Wade loved this car, but it was a junkyard piece, if anything.

The street in front of him turned orange and then black again, further ahead the city glittering with white lights. Shapes of trees and hills expanded beside him, no moon, only clouds with some stars littering the sky, which he would have counted as well, if his eyes were not glued to the street.

However, he did take note of the movement beside him and he sighed as a sudden moan left the other, pressing his head against the window, a spark of blue squares flowing into the air and disappearing.

“Glad to see you awake.”

Jack just huffed out a small sound, acknowledging the other, but not really being able to form words. He struggled for some time, before he was able to turn his head from the cool surface and to Mark, watching him with a tight, curious frown.

“Since when can you drive?”

“Since today.”

“Huh.” Another bump in the road and Jack was lifted from his seat as he noted tiredly: “You’re bad at this.”

“I would have preferred to have some lessons before, that’s true, but I didn’t really have a choice.”

“Bo doesn’t like driving cars.”

“I know.”

“He’s scared of driving people over.”

Mark nodded as he answered: “Same here.”

“Yeah.”

Silence hung around them and Mark was anxious, the street too long and bumpy and the feeling of not getting anywhere settling in his bones. Jack on the other hand was occupied with looking around the car, less out of curiosity but more because of boredom, feeling tired but not able to go back to sleep with the way his world swayed, making him feel nauseous. He immediately knew it was Wade’s, one glance at the ceiling showing grey cloth that already had holes in it and pieces hanging down. The dashboard was dusty, particles flying everywhere and showing up as soon as light shined through the window, here and gone again in small intervals.

Behind him the backseat creaked and with a quick look he saw the crumbs and soft drink bottles littering the ground. With every bump a bit more trash clinked together and flew into the air. The door beside him was starting to get rusty as well, not daring to brush with his hands over it, the smell of iron invading his nose and making his face twist.

Jack shifted in his seat and his eyes flew further up, watching the grass beside the road, blurry as it passed the car. It was just as black as the night, but he picked up petals in between, pointing at the borders with his finger.

“These are pretty.”

“What is pretty?” Mark asked, slightly shook out of his growing panic.

“The flowers.”

“The yellow ones?” at the nod, Mark provided, “Those are chrysanthemums.”

“I like green, but I like yellow too.”

“Oh?”

“Yellow is nice, people overlook yellow. And violet.” His mind wandered off for a second, before he added: “And white.”

“White is not a colour. Neither is black, but I agree. Yellow does get overlooked often.”

“Mark?”

“Yes?”

“I’m cold.”

Mark shifted in his seat as well, as he pressed his back against the pollsters, his eyes not leaving the white line in front of him, biting his lip.

“Tragic…” Then he lifted his eyes, as he looked around the car, up and down, but not really seeing anything. “I don’t know how to fix that. The car doesn’t really have a heating as broken down as it is and I don’t think Wade left blankets.”

“How did you get him to give it to you?”

“I asked him.”

“Makes sense, “Jack sighed, “Wade is a terrible car keeper.”

“He had not touched the car since graduation, so really, it is stuck in its teenage phase.”

“Cleaning the café he can but his own house and belongings he just leaves to nature.”

Mark snorted: “You should have seen his laptop. The amount of useless data in there was terrifying.”

“I can imagine,” Jack shrugged, before he leant his head back against the glass, murmuring, “I’m really tired…”

“It’s okay, that’s normal. Just… think happy thoughts, think of warm things.”

“Mark?”

The sound of the voice made the red head shiver, sudden tears springing to his eyes, as he blinked them away. His hands had already been gripping the wheel like a life line, but now he clawed through the soft fabric, his breath shaky.

“I’m dying, right?”

Mark was at a loss of words, so he kept quiet, the whine stuck in his throat as he tried to keep his hands steady.

But Jack let out a sigh, as he stared at himself, a hand hovering in front of his face, before he flicked the thumb and pointing finger together. No hiss, no moan, nothing left him that indicated pain, he was just watching as pieces of blue and white left the hand for a second, swirling into the air, before disappearing. What he did however was continue doing it, Mark slightly disturbed as the light flickered beside him.

“Jack, please.”

“Sorry about that,” he responded, letting the hand fall and explaining, “They looked like fireflies.”

Mark let out a huff: “It’s okay. I suppose they do.”

“The children were right when they said we’re magic.”

“I wish we were.”

Silence struck the car once more, before Jack turned his head a second time.

“What… is happening?”

“The computer decided to bring Bo back.” Mark cut to the chase, his voice betraying the hatred he felt for the thing that pulled them into the mess. “You may have noticed that we are robots.”

“Kinda figured with the glowing eyes and weird glitches,” Jack sighed, before he snorted, “Being magic sounded so much more fantastic.”

“You could take comfort in the fact that robots aren’t natural either.”

Jack thought for a second, before he mumbled: “Are we like… illegal?”

“Very illegal,” Mark nodded, “We are experiments, for a lack of better word.”

“Like ghosts?”

“That would be supernatural.”

“Are ghosts illegal?”

“Not to my knowledge,” Mark responded, before he added, “But as I wanted to say, no, we are not ghosts. Ghosts don’t have bodies.”

“That sucks.”

“I agree.”

“Where are we driving to?”

“Bo’s body is still back in the laboratory. The computer decided that we changed too much to be sewed together and put us both back in his head. It wants to sacrifice the…” now he stuttered, his mouth trying to come up with the word but not being able to, “…The-“

“Useless part, huh?”

Mark did not dare to look at him as more tears gathered, wanting to tell Jack that the computer was wrong but not being able to without crumbling to pieces. He had to concentrate on driving, but his heart shattered at the way Jack had said it. With full acceptance, as if he had never thought of himself as anything more than useless.

“It’s okay, Mark.”

“How can you say that? Nothing is okay about this. Nothing.”

“I am okay with it.”

Jack closed his eyes then as he started to roam in his trouser pockets, trying to find something else to spend his time with, his head pounding as the hope of left-over paper surfaced. Sadly enough all of it was used up, but the motion of searching was at least something, fingers hooking up in the side latches and pulling at them. Mark watched from the corners of his eyes, before he rummaged himself in his flannel, only a second after resurfacing with Jack’s Bo picture.

“Here you go.”

“But it’s your gift. I didn’t actually think you would keep a hold of it.”

“I adore it, I think it’s a beautiful picture. You really caught his likeness, which is why I kept it.”

“That’s the sweetest thing you have ever said to me.”

With a small motion Mark slipped the sheet over to Jack, his right arm bent slightly to wave the paper, before the greenhead took it carefully. For a moment his eyes lingered on the image, then he bent it in half, glancing at Mark to see how he would react. He only nodded with a tight grimace, another small wave of his hand telling Jack to keep going.

As he started folding, Mark watched him occasionally, glancing back and forth carefully between the slow movements of hands and the rapid speed of the street.

“What are you doing now?”

“Folding more paper.”

“I can see that.” Mark smiled. “What are you folding?”

“A paper boat.”

“Why are you folding a paper boat?”

Jack had been smiling at the known conversation, before it turned mournful, his fingers shaking.

“It makes me calm,” he explained, before sighing, “Usually it does.”

The only thing Mark could do was watch as Jack struggled to keep his fingers under control, his heart feeling heavy. He was about to ask him if he did not rather want to try to do something else, maybe rest up, before the other spoke up once more.

“We used to do it so often, back then, but I guess you got tired of it after knowing what they actually meant to everybody.” He smiled crookedly. “It was too easy for you, huh? To just let a tiny paper boat carry everything away. Putting faith in something so small to ease the heavy load on one’s shoulders.”

“But you still love doing it. You always believed in it without thinking about it.”

“Yeah.”

“Why did you never push Bo to do it more? It… it could have helped, with time.”

“You didn’t really care and didn’t really have the time. Doing everything else, drowning yourself in work, so I gave it up.” He stretched slightly, leaning his head back over the seat. “As long as it made you content to do everything else and get lost in thousands of thoughts, I never minded it.”

“You never minded anything as long as it worked for me.”

“Yeah.”

Then they paused.

“You will be happier after all this too, right?”

If Mark had not concentrated so hard on not crashing he would have swung his head to the side.

“I couldn’t do my job, I didn’t listen to you, so, if I go and you get to control Bo fully and become happy then…”

“Jack, if you go, there will be no Bo! There will only be half a brain, there will only be me!” Mark yelled out, his head leaning forward as if he wanted to knock it against the windshield. “The computer can’t fix Bo if there is a whole half missing! If you die, Bo goes with you, I already told you!”

“But will you be happy?”

“What?!”

Jack was staring out of the window, following the streetlamps as they passed by. Orange reflected of from his pale face, his chest in a steady rhythm as he had his hands crossed over it, as if he was about to fall asleep once more. And Mark could have sworn for a single second that his eyes flickered from blue to grey, like a dying light.

“Remember when you asked me what I think we should do to get Bo back?”

Mark swallowed, as he nodded.

“I said that I don’t know. I actually still don’t know. But-” he sighed as he smirked, “I know that he would love to be happy, you know? I mean, who wouldn’t? But he’s a weird guy, isn’t he?”

“Jack, I-“

“I tried so many times to tell you what he would like to do, but I know you don’t like the idea, or at least you didn’t like the idea when I proposed it before all… this. That’s fine, it is a stupid thing to work towards to anyway. So I just… want to make sure that you will be happy from now on.” Jack’s voice was almost gone, as if was only a gentle breeze, as he added: “Bo was unhappy with both of us, right? Because we don’t have the same ideas of happiness. Because I didn’t want to give up my wish, being the idiot I am.”

Mark wanted to say that he was wrong, that Jack could not take all the blame, but the other went on.

“You only did what they asked you to do, you wanted them to be happy and I always understood that. I always knew that is what was most important to you, make them proud and happy and show them that they raised a son to be proud of. I mean, who didn’t feel shame when Mom got angry? Or felt guilty about disappointing Dad? They were great, the best people I ever met and… and probably will ever know.”

Mark felt his eyes prick with tears.

“If I go, then he will as well, I understand that. It’s sad to know that. I feel really guilty about that.” His voice was weak, Mark was not sure if Jack was meaning to continue, before he heard him sigh through his nose. “But you will stick around and become happy right? For them.”

“You’re being ridiculous again,” the red head offered feebly, “I could never-“

“I would be happy with knowing that you are.”

Mark chocked back a sob, as he felt his knuckles protest by the strain he but on them, his jaw feeling like he had knocked a hammer into it. He did not want to admit that he had been playing with the thought, back in the beginning, a week prior, where he had wished the other would just leave and never come back. He hated himself for it, he could not fathom what the other really had been through.

And he still wanted Left Brain to be happy above all things.

“How?” Mark then stammered out, his face crunched up, “How can you be so calm about this? How can you just let yourself go like that?”

And Mark realised he had hit the most vulnerable point in Jack with asking him that question. He could see the other curl up, biting his tongue, eyes squeezed shut and he tried to reach out, one hand leaving the wheel to pet him.

“No, come on…” he mumbled, the buzzing in his arm his least concern, “Save your strength…”

“I just want to make people happy.”

Jack looked up, Mark taking his hand back as the earnest eyes bored through him.

“That’s all. No reason, no point. I just want to see people laugh and be content for a moment and know I helped with the one thing I love to do. With jokes and songs and being silly.” He averted his eyes, as he curled further into himself. “T-that’s… all that it is… I just wanted to be useful, to have made a point, to say that is what my life was going to be for the rest of my life no matter what others thought of it.”

Then he sobbed.

“But I never got to show them. I… I’m never going to prove myself to them, show them that I could do it. I couldn’t even make them happy, I just disappointed them the whole time. Because Bo didn’t want to use his brain, because I didn’t want to give up, I failed Mark, I…”

Mark only stared for a bit, before his eyes went to the street once more, his hand still tingly as he shook it out and listened to Jack blubber up nonsense. While listening to Jack weeping, broken sentences leaving his mouth, of his own disappointment and regret, he noted that they had finally reached Vinestone, the sky scrapers shooting out of the ground beside them and it would not take long before they had made it back. While shacking his arm, that did not let up biting, and driving them into the correct street, he chewed through what his other half had said.

Being useful.

Jack would sacrifice himself and everything he was ever known for just one simple act of kindness. To prove himself to those he cares about. He always only wanted to make others over all proud and feel accomplished, make their life easier to carry on their shoulders.

All that it was.

The pure wish to just do something he loved, not even mattering what else was in the way, to make others happy. In whatever way possible he would try his best, gathering as many in one spot and let everything come together in one ball of laughter.

He had never given up.

After all these years of fighting he had never given up that one wish, the idea of that one particular thing he had been striving for since he was small. To be on a stage, to make others laugh, to somehow let that fantasy work out and just get swept up in it.

And now?

Neither of them would ever know what Bo’s parents really thought, if they would have changed their minds eventually and told them it was fine, that they had been always proud. To follow that dream however silly and non-orthodox it was, watching from the side and silently hoping that he would make it anyway. They always had been stubborn and Mark had been as well.

He had been goddamn, fucking stubborn.

He had gone the easy way, to please Bo’s parents. They always had been logical in their reasoning’s and Bo had always to some degree agreed. But Jack never did, and that is why it had hurt and why everything turned into the mess it was. Bo always had gone for guidance to them, they steered him where he needed to go they thought would make him content with his life. Safe and protected.

It was well meant, but wrong.

And here Jack was doing the exact opposite, giving up in favour of peace, so he could give Mark a chance to become what he wanted to be. Let him decide, let him take the reins because that is how it had always worked out.

Everybody had always told him what to do and what to become, Mark included, and he finally gave up.

“… Fuck this.”

Jack lifted his eyes, having been silent for a while for his throat had dried up in his crying, not really sure what to make of the curse that had left the other. As he heard Mark mumble the curse a second time, his eyes narrowed to slits, trying to figure out what was going on. For a moment he had thought the words were directed at him, his posture falling before he heard Mark getting louder, slightly flinching away from him.

“Fuck this, go fuck yourself, computer!!”

“…Mark?”

Another flinch came as Mark hit his shacking hand against the dashboard, a loud clang vibrating in the interior of the car. For a moment Jack wanted to help, ask him if he was alright, but for some reason Mark did not seem to want to calm down, over-taken by the anger that spread through him like poison.

“You know what?! No! NOT LIKE THIS! FUCK THIS!”

Now they came to an abrupt halt, both of them knocked forwards, as Jack let out a surprised yelp while Mark fumed. Detaching the seatbelt he slammed the car door open, Jack unsure on what to do as the other opened his own door, freeing the green head as well.

“Okay, listen to me. Jack? Can you stand?”

Overwhelmed by Mark’s outburst and the sudden shift into a soft question he tried to sit up, the exhaustion making it almost impossible. But the adrenalin that was pumping through him now, or maybe whatever equivalent to adrenalin in a robot body made him shift, his hands pushed him out of his seat.

“…I can try…” he then mumbled, wobbling and almost falling on his nose, Mark catching him. “Nope. I can’t.”

“Hold on to me then. Can you take a step?”

Jack really wanted to, but he was stuck, energy already spend on having stood up. He could feel his joints cracking and his stomach was burning to the point he thought a hole would burn itself through it, acid swimming in there.

“No, my legs are all frozen up…”

“Okay then we go with the first method.”

Jack’s vision went vertigo for a few moments, as he was lifted off from his feet and pressed against Mark, now that he was slightly more aware of his surroundings, a frown coming to his features. He felt himself be pressed against the others chest, which made his own hurt, hands going over it in an instant.

“Mark, my lungs…”

The other shifted as he apologized, already walking and hushing: “It’s going to be okay. Just stay calm and leave it to me.”

“What are you going to do?” Jack then asked, not sure what to make of everything as his vision blurred, colours shifting and shapes forming.

“I will reprogram the whole system and force it to cooperate with us.”

Jack was silent as he noted the way Mark walked through bushes, fast but steady, and looking up he could see the other’s grim expression. For a moment he felt as if he was close to passing out again, but he forced himself not to, pinching his stomach and trying to feel something through the numbness that was taking a hold of him again.

Then he asked with a confused tone: “You can do that?”

“I sure as hell will try.”

“So, you can’t.”

“Don’t sass me, I can and will still drop you.”

Now Jack, even though he could not even make sense of where up and down was or if Mark was even holding him anymore, let out a small laugh. It sounded forced, his body not reacting properly, his senses turning off, but Mark was glad for his black humour to have come in handy for once. The laugh eased him somewhat and Mark felt better in knowing Jack was still the same. That is why he spoke into the laughter, hoping to make it last longer, to give the other something to hold onto as he felt him going weaker in his arms.

“I’m serious, I would!”

“You wouldn’t,” Jack then huffed out as he grasped at Mark’s shirt, as if trying to make sure he was still there, giggling.

“Dare to test me?”

Mark stepped up the stairs as he noted the other trying to laugh but the motion dying in his throat, falling silent but still his body moving in the unconscious movement. Mark hoped to hear something being uttered, but he was just greeted with wheezy breaths, as if the action had used up all the air in his lungs, the red head sighing.

“Of course I wouldn’t,” Mark then told the other, the nod against his ribcage a small comfort, “I was just joking.”

And entering the guestroom made both of them shiver, the pale, beige walls, plastic plants and the smell of medical equipment as well as metal filling them with dread. And Mark felt even more determined as he was finally able to fix things, turning his head down to Jack.

“Now you just have to listen carefully to me when we get in there, alright?”

Again a small nod came, Jack’s face buried in Mark’s chest, hands crumbling the red flannel. He could feel through the fabric not only the buzzing feeling of ants but also the nervous vibrating of Jack himself, probably scared out of his mind but not being able to say it, the red head closing his eyes.

“This is the last time you’ll ever have to listen to me again without having a say in it.”

Then he greeted the computer on the reception desk, asking it to let him through before the desk moved to the side with a squeaking sound. His hair stood up as he rounded the corner, Jack suddenly slack, his hands falling away and Mark gritting his teeth.

“Let’s get this over with.”


	30. Flickering Out

Jack was low-key aware of what was going on around him, but if he had been asked to recount what he had heard and seen into a timeline, he would have failed.

The only thing he was sure of was the fact that Mark had stepped through the black door and set him to the ground. He had made sure he was propped against the wall, here and there holding his arm or his chest, his neck, as if Mark was trying to see if he was responsive to anything. Jack would have loved to answer him when he asked if he was feeling fine, but he could not. Fluttering his eyes took energy, opening his mouth took energy, not even to mention to move.

The only thing he could do was listen, listen to what was going on.

His body felt numb, he could just barely feel the white, hard surface underneath him and the panelled wall, the spaces in between sucking up his shirt. His head had lolled forward, he was sure he looked like a puppet without strings that had been thrown into a corner, and if he had felt anything his spine and chest would have protested already like crazy. Trying to wiggle his fingers did not help, neither did wiggling his toes.

The only thing he could rely on were his ears and he picked up a series of noises.

The first and loudest was the computer, screeching, gears clacking and buzzing. It felt like a whole family of bees had made their home in there and if Jack was honest, he was not sure if the bee family was in the computer or in his head. Maybe both, for the fact that Mark had told him he was being deleted.

The next thing was the sound of footsteps that went here to there and Jack tried to find a pattern in it, the sound louder, then slower, then quieter. He first wondered why Mark was walking in circles, over and over again, before he picked up more, the noise of cutting and ripping, the sound of plastic against plastic, plastic against metal, metal against metal and more connected to those. Clicking and rattling was heard there for a moment, in the next something thudded against the ground on the other side of the room.

The computer did not say anything, seemingly preoccupied, but Mark was mumbling.

Most of the time it was just a string of words he let out, not a single thing Jack could make out. Then there were words, in the sense of “where did I put this” “this belongs here” and “that needs more of this”. Jack sometimes got lost in Mark’s ramblings, even if he did not understand the meanings behind them, too advanced vocabulary hitting his ears. But he had to say that it was funny to hear the other mumble and talk to himself, as if he was teaching the children how to reprogram a computer and not just making sure he did things right.

With time even his hearing was losing its quality, Jack lost in a constant buzz, forcing himself to hold on to the words in the room. He did not know exactly what was beating in his chest area anymore, but it was thudding away, as if the panic was still as strong as ever, even though his body could not react to it. The longer it took for Mark to access everything, the longer Jack had to fight of the wish to just get it over with.

He had already been tired when Mark had put him on the floor.

He was so tired.

But Mark had told him to stay awake and to listen, to keep his mind occupied, and that was exactly what he was doing.

He listened and tried to fight off sleep, the buzz sometimes overwhelming him but then leaving once more, just waiting to pounce again. Besides that, Jack was trying to figure out what Mark was exactly doing.

He was reprogramming it, fine.

But how would it fix them then?

Would the computer just leave them be? Would it let them be in their fake-bodies and the real Bo would stay in here, forgotten? The thought made Jack cringe in every possible way, not even wanting to think about it, not even wanting to go that far with his thoughts.

Mark would never do that, abandon Bo.

So, he listened to the red head how he paced again and again, the sound of cables being rustled and plugged in and out. At some moments he could have sworn that Mark was making music, the tone in which he started to talk to himself a sing song voice and if Jack had been able to, he would have smiled at the familiarity of the melody, having just written it yesterday.

The song was really the only thing that kept both of them going.

Mark had not even realised he was humming it, before he started opening his mouth and dust particles tickled his throat. However, they were no hindrance in his work as he continued, needing something to do while sitting in the electrified air, trying his best to put his engineer skills to the test. No real rhymes left him, he just talked to himself, looking at the coloured cables and narrowing his eyes, biting his lips whenever something was not going the way he wanted it to. Here he pulled something out, here he reconnected something, figuring out the nicks and crooks of the computer, not wasting any time in making sure if he was talking or not.

Wasting time was a luxury he could not afford, so he started to just rip panels off, staring at more cables and making sense of them. Soon enough he found what he was looking for, hoping his hasty meddling would buy him the needed hours, hoping that it would be enough as the time-trial-record-stamp burned itself into his skull.

He had only so much more time left.

And realizing he needed more cables and metal, he remembered the second car he had parked beside haphazardly in front of the lab. It was pure luck when he had stumbled out of the car with Jack in tow, that he had noticed the even more rotted thing in the corner. It was perfect for his predicament, the shine of the metal against the lamplight making his eyes draw towards its engine. At first it had been a desperate try to clean it, ripping the vines and bushes away from the red vehicle and dusting off the windows, but then he finally was able to push the hood off.

Opening the door, he sat down as well, leaning down and ripping anything of use out, knowing that it was a preposterous puzzle he was working on, his mind racing as he tried to connect the wires together in his mind.

Slapping his hand to the forehead, he got an idea.

And back he was in the lab, pulling out another panel on the wall and slashing the cables inside, arranging the stolen parts in his favour. He did have a hard time to pull and push, but slowly he made progress, something akin to relief but bigger, guiltier filled his veins.

Mark only huffed, slamming the rust burned panel door shut, the thought of never wanting to drive again in his whole life spreading through his being once more, before, finally, he set the very last panel back, watching as the screen began to flicker.

All or nothing.

Pulling the last cables after him, which were connected to the wall, he made his way back to Jack, kneeling by his side. His hand was put on his shoulder and almost fell through, whatever outer shell was holding Jack together falling into pieces. Mark shuddered, but shook his head as he called out, hoping for any reaction.

“Jack?”

Dread had been swirling in his stomach the whole time, the whole evening and night now, and he felt it coming crawling up his throat, waiting to be freed. Mark shook the other a second time, hoping him to say something, but squares being the only answer. Maybe he was already too late, maybe he had stopped the computer too late, maybe the computer had already ripped apart what Right Brain made a right brain, and he swallowed as he repeated his name.

“Jack, please.”

For a moment nothing, and Mark forced himself to listen for breathing or for any other sign that the other was still there, before he sighed in absolute gratitude as Jack lifted his head. Or at least tried to, a groan leaving him. It just took a second for Mark to prop him fully to the wall once more, Jack’s head now facing upwards while Mark held it steady.

“I’m glad you’re still here,” Mark murmured, his face feeling damp, “For a moment there you gave me a scare.”

“That rhymed.”

Mark was shocked that Jack had enough strength to form words, not even mentioning to be witty with them. He had no time to stare however as he noticed the computer starting up once more, his face turning hard.

“Alright, Jack. This is it.”

“What?”

“I over-rid the system. With any luck I can force it to pull us back out of these bodies and into Bo’s head.”

“But that won’t work will it?” Jack mumbled, “We changed too much and so it can’t do that.”

“I don’t care a single lick about what the computer thinks is logical or not. I’ll trick it into bringing us back together.” He stared first at the screen before he set his hand on Jack shoulders, his eyes showing nothing but determination. “Now, we have one shot at this. Buckle up and let us fix this mess.”

But Jack hesitated as he blinked sleepily: “One shot? What do you…?”

Then it hit him like a brick and he felt his wrist being roped into what he would have described as a rubber armband. The other wrist followed almost immediately, and he forced his hand up, surprising Mark and mostly himself. The strength he was using diminished as soon as he had grabbed Left Brain by the sleeve, pulling it down. Mark was speechless and as he looked up, Jack’s eyes open, half lidded, not letting go even as the red head tried to pry the fingers away.

“You can’t do that,” he then whispered, “You can’t just believe it will work out. What if it doesn’t work? What if Bo doesn’t come back, we both will…”

“I know that.”

“Then why? You are here for survival, Mark. I don’t understand.”

“Do you really think I would be happy with only surviving? Never to be alive again?”

Jack had gone into some state of blindness, blurry shapes all he could make out, but he heard the honesty. So soon enough he felt his own sightless eyes burn, closing them and trying to control himself, before Mark squeezed his hand.

“I wouldn’t be.”

Then Mark let go, suddenly walking away and Jack pried his eyes open once more, hoping to see the familiar red. He was staring as Mark went over to a self-fabricated lever, holding it with both of his hands, the same armbands connecting him to the computer. With one last look to Jack, he started to smile slightly, tilting his head to the device beside him.

“Ready?”

But Jack hesitated, his words weak: “What if I mess up again?”

“We both already messed up,” Mark interjected, his smile getting wider, “We are one brain after all, aren’t we, Right Brain?”

Now the green head blinked, thoughts running wild.

The other had never called him by his function before.

Never used it as a name for him.

Never. Not a single time.

But now he had acknowledged him for who he is.

And somehow that made Jack settle, as he nodded, Mark taking the initiative and pulling the lever down.

For a moment the room was silent, the light that had been going through the ground vanishing as well as the soft green glow of the screen, the room plunged into darkness. Neither of them made a sound, breathing through their mouths, before everything started up again with the sound of a ping. While the lights came back and the tell-tale sound of fans started up, Jack suddenly felt dizzier than ever before while he heard Mark stumble against a wall, followed by him sliding down.

Bright light blinded then the both of them and Jack swallowed down the yelp that had formed while Mark put his hand to the side of his skull, the pounding that spread making him greet his teeth. Noises overplayed, getting louder and their ear drums vibrating, their skin feeling like it was peeled off.

Jack was panicking, the pain knocking into him full force as he pressed his back against the wall in a try to escape, his throat raw: “Mark?!”

“It’s going to be fine, Right Brain!” the other called out, sounding just as pained, his words sounding muffled from the fact that he was biting his own shirtsleeve to keep from screaming “It’s working, just wait it through!”

And they did, Jack squeezing himself against the wall to try to keep himself from losing the upright position he had. His artificial heart beat loudly in his ears and the lights were blinking fast behind his closed eyelids. He could hear Mark across the room skid against the linoleum floor as well, the shoes squeaking, and the computer was getting louder by the second. The room became warmer, both of them could feel the sweat run down their faces, and the air started to pulsate in an erratic beat. At some point both could have sworn the beat and the flickering of the light were trying to get into harmony before their thoughts were driven to the scratching sound of a nail running down a blackboard. More light filled the room, the heat becoming unbearable, slamming into them.

Then darkness.

Pure, black darkness.

Mark was slowly getting aware, as he tried to access where he was.

Moving his hands, he realised he was laying on his stomach and so he pulled his hands up to the side of his head, trying to push. Frowning, he failed to get up, trying to put more strength into it and his arms shook feebly against the surface. Finally, after a few tries, he was able to stretch himself upwards and he sighed, having done everything with closed eyes. They were heavy, but he had to find out what happened, forcing them open with rubbing his palms against them, remembering what he had done.

They should have been Bo by now.

But he still felt like himself, so it had not worked.

Now he looked around, but everything was black, his hands invisible as he lifted them off his face and regarding them. At first he wondered if he should go look for a lamp somewhere, before he shook his head.

Where was Jack?

He shifted as he pulled his head up, looking around but not being able to tell where he exactly was. With some effort he somehow made it to his feet, shooting his arms out to keep his balance, dusting off his flannel right afterwards. Then he started to pace, looking for walls and knocking into one, his glasses almost falling from his face at the impact. Petting it with his palms, he started following it, noting when reaching out that there were no panels or gaps, just a solid wall. Following it he felt as if he was walking forever into one direction, so he turned and tried the other, coming to the same result.

“Jack?” he then called out, hoping for a hint, “Are you here?”

When no answer came but just his own echo, his chest tightened a bit.

Did he fail?

When he touched the wall a second time, his breath coming out of his mouth to keep it steady, trying to think logically, he could feel it vibrate, his muscles tensing up.

His heart was almost beating out of his chest as the darkness suddenly seemed to move, Mark letting out a noise of surprise at the static shock running through his arm. He stumbled, his arm jumping in and out of existence, light exploding in front of his eyes as he tried to get away. As he saw pieces of the walls move, he pressed his hand to his chest, trying to keep the buzzing at bay.

Trembling, staring down at his hand, his arm had red squares jumping out of it and he cradled it with a fascinated expression. For a moment he snipped his fingers like Jack had done and he was dumb struck by the glowing light that sprouted out of them. They were just as Right Brain’s were, thin plates of light that disappeared after seconds, but the colour struck him as surprise. He wondered why his were red and Jacks were blue, but maybe it was just a way of the computer to separate them further, he could not be sure.

But he had other things to worry about as he snipped his fingers and looked around, using his hand as light source.

The first thing he noticed, now that he had a lamp, was that the static in the wall continued to move, clipping squares falling into each other and disappearing just as fast. Mark tried to back away from it, but the quacking continued beneath his feet and made his legs shake, squares over squares moving and vibrating, flashes of white surrounding him. His hair stood up, and he was not sure if it was because of his fear that was slowly settling or the air itself before he noticed that it started to heighten in intensity. Holding his breath, noise filled his ears with the movement. The harder the shakes got, the louder the noise, and he put his hands over his ears to block the deafening sound. Warmth was coming off from everywhere.

He did not stop looking.

Now equipped with something he could use to light his way he walked away from the wall, searching for his other half, stumbling here and there as squares appeared and made him shake in place. More than on one occasion he walked right into one of those blocks, the buzz on his skin making him shiver and cover his ears. But he knew that he had no time to dwell in his pain and he went on, calling out and hoping that Jack would able to pick it up in that terrible mix.

He was unsure if Jack would be here.

And his heart hammered with every new square he found, hoping that Jack was somewhere safe and away from these things. He could not be sure how much the other had strength in him left, and if Mark was already having trouble to get around the place he could not imagine how Jack was faring.

When he saw a blue light flicker in the distance his heart missed a beat.

“Right Brain!”

“…?”

Confusion laced Jack as he opened his eyes, blinking, noticing himself laying curled up on the floor. He had barely registered someone calling him, but he felt the air shift, his senses so out of the loop that he jumped a bit as he heard the footsteps approaching. He blinked more, trying to will the blurriness away that had laid itself over him, but it only made it worse as he started to sit up. As he made it half upwards he saw darkness surrounding him, rectangles jumping around and the only thing he could think about was the fact that he had seen this happen before.

He wished in that moment he could wake up.

He really wanted to wake up now.

This had to be all a bad dream and he could just bang his head against a doorframe or a wall and that would wake him up with a start.

As he moved to stand up, to escape, he could feel the presence that had appeared beside him take a step back, quickly and as if they were surprised by him being able to move. Then Jack could feel his body shake and every fibre of his being convulsing against him, his thoughts getting scrambled again.

His head hurt but he forced himself to look up with half lidded eyes.

Realising that it was Mark who was beside him he almost fell back to his knees.

“Mark,” he then whispered, his voice not wanting to work as he shakily waved, “Are you…?”

Instead of an answer he felt the other move towards him and suddenly arms were under his own, holding him upright, before the hold developed into a tight hug.

Jack blinked and was suddenly wide awake in shock, a slight sting forming everywhere they touched. For a moment he thought he could go numb, but when he felt the others hand curl around his body, pressing his head onto the base of his neck, he relaxed, his heart slowing down. Heavy, warm breaths rushed down Jack’s spine and he was to say the least more than surprised that he did not panic more in the nightmare scape they were in. He got even calmer the moment he felt himself being lifted gently, as he was pressed against the others chest, his own hands still somewhere beside his body, slack.

“You’re okay…” Mark then suddenly hushed out, and Jack was not entirely sure if Left Brain had said that because he wanted to calm him down or himself, “You’re okay…”

“Yeah,” Jack then exhaled, relaxing further against the other, his hands moving to the others back as well and pressing his nose against Marks shoulder, “Are you okay?”

A shudder went through Left Brain while Jack hugged him tighter, understanding his response as he just let out a small sigh. It felt nice to actually see the other having been worried then just assuming it all the time. Considering the fact that he felt absolutely lost, he was just glad the other was here as well, closing his eyes and pressing his face into the flannel, grateful to just forget things for a while. And Mark was overwhelmed, his fingers digging into the green shirt. He had already thought of the worst, but now the huge stone lifted from his chest.

For a moment they just stood, Mark not really ready to let the other go, but Jack peeled himself away, looking around once more as he turned his eyes up, trying to find Mark’s face in the half darkness.

“What is this?” he frowned tiredly, as he took a small step back from Mark’s side, holding his sleeve, “This looks like my nightmare.”

“We are in the computer.”

Jack frowned more as he blinked: “In the computer?”

“Well,” Mark tried to clarify, “Our brain halves were turned into electric impulses and are now scattered in the main frame.” At the lack of response, he added: “Imagine our brains having been cut into really small pieces and mixed into a bowl.”

“Ew” the green head just replied, sticking his tongue out, before he looked down at himself, “But we aren’t actually cut, are we?”

“No, each half of our brain is still intact, our thoughts did scatter but still have a sense of connection, so even in here they kept their form. Or the form our respective brain halves believe their form is.” He snipped with his fingers as Jack watched the red light fly off with a stunned expression. “One disturbance and we are back to lose pixel data. Or more accordingly, we are just data and for some reason we are still held like this by our own will.”

Jack stared at his fingers as he flicked them, the blue light flying off and he tilted his head, too tired to really ask the details about everything, as he just settled on: “What now?”

“We need to convince the computer to mix us two into one person again.”

“How?”

“I… am thinking of a solution.”

Jack was not very hopeful, the response not reassuring him as he slowly slid down to the ground and sighed, Mark following with bending to his knees. Jack was honestly exhausted and rubbed at his eyes as they sat, Mark having his head lowered and biting his lip. The room did not let up with making noises, but Jack could not have cared less, now that the other was beside him not as scared as before. Still, he wondered if they would just stay here for the rest of their existence, which would really suck.

And so he voiced his opinion into the stale air: “This fuckin’ sucks.”

“The fact that we are particles in a machine or that we still don’t know how to get Bo back?”

“I guess both,” Jack sighed as he leant forward, thanks to the white squares blinking in the distance regarding Mark with a curious face, “I thought you knew what you were doing back there.”

Mark let his eyes glance to the ground, as he shrugged: “I had to think fast, we didn’t have much time and I did the first best thing I could come up with. I couldn’t have calculated that we would end up in limbo, you know?”

Jack put his chin on his hand as he remarked: “So we’re stuck?”

“Until we come up with something, it seems so.”

“That will get boring.”

Mark watched as Jack laid down once more, seemingly too exhausted to keep himself upright, as he crossed his arms over his eyes. He had to agree with his statement, they had no way of knowing what they were able to do in here and considering how unstable they were and how the computer sounded, as if it was overheating by their presence, did not make things easier. But he had to keep a frown in and then a smile, as he rolled his eyes.

“Well, according to my calculations. I’m sorry, let me run the numbers again…”

Jack lifted an arm as his eyebrow followed.

“You’re a prat.”

“Name calling? Really?” Jack muffled out, as he tried to keep in a small laugh “You’re just gonna do name calling?”

“I’m not calling names, alright? I’m just stating facts and the fact is you’re a quivering boob.”

That made Jack laugh harder, hiccups leaving him as he retorted: “I’m the boob!? Well, alright, at least I don’t play with toys still, okay?”

“Rubik’s cubes are not toys.” Mark crossed his arms as he held his nose high. “They keep my spacial reasoning skills sharp.”

“Mark plays with toys! Look at you!” Jack just giggled, trying to catch his breath, before he tried to calm himself down, while Mark snickered. “Toy player!”

While they did so the computer had gotten louder and Mark looked around as Jack was still occupied with getting his breath back, not realising the situation around them. As he slowed down, the room did as well, and Mark blinked. The knowledge that the computer would be unable to deal with them much longer was apparent, and so he either had to think of a solution or let it play out. But with no solution at hand and with the other being still blissfully unaware he sighed.

“Right Brain?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry.”

Jack stared from his position he was in, his head still on the floor as he swallowed the laugh down that had just wanted to spring out. When the other opened his mouth again, Jack started to slowly sit up once more, watching as Mark’s eyes suddenly filled with tears.

“I’m sorry Right Brain. I’m sorry for blaming you.”

“But it was my fault,” Jack reassured the other, his tongue heavy, “You had every right to.”

As response Mark shook his head, his hands pressed against each other as if trying to keep them from shaking: “No. I blamed you, Right Brain, do you understand that? I thought the whole time I was in the right. I didn’t give you choices, didn’t let you speak up. And because of that Bo wasn’t the same, he wasn’t happy, he was practically emotionless.”

Jack was not sure how to answer as he just stared, not really able to deny that fact.

“And then, instead of listening, I made it worse, to the point the computer blamed you,” Mark continued, his heart heavy but needing to finally say it, “It thought you couldn’t function properly, while it was I that….”

“Mark…”

And when Jack saw the tears roll, his own eyes let some fall.

“I did that to us. I started the whole thing, I need you to know that. I did start, you just took all the bullets. You went to get help, and that was a good thing. You wanted to do your job, but I didn’t let you, not in the right way. Not your way.”

Jack shook his head at the next words, not wanting to hear them.

“I am sorry, Right Brain, I really… really am.”

Sitting in silence Jack just stared at the ground.

Then he smiled.

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

“You’re the boob now.”

“Am I?”

“You were just looking out for him and for us. You just over did it,” Jack hit him lightly in the shoulder as he nodded, before snickering softly: “So according to my calculations for sure.”

Mark grinned, brushing his tears away with his sleeve, then tapped his fingers against his chin in a thoughtful manner: “Didn’t know you could count.”

“Rude!” Jack gasped out, “SO rude!”

That made the other laugh, his voice echoing off the walls and filling the noise around them with a small, hopeful glimmer. As both fell back into a silence neither could really break, their eyes staring ahead, they wondered what was left for them to do. At some point Jack had put his head on the other’s shoulder, the tingling there but not bothering him in the slightest, rather wanting to be near and be stung than feel nothing. The room was still warm, with time getting even warmer, but it was empty and his eyes could focus on absolutely nothing besides white blinking squares in the distance, sometimes snipping a finger to distract himself from them.

Then he could hear the other breath out.

“Maybe there is something that we could do. Something we could construct together.”

“What do you have in mind?”

Mark sounded shaky, as if he knew that something was coming, but his determination to get the words out kept steady as he answered: “We are in a computer, maybe if we just think hard enough about what we want, if we just put all our energy into one single thought, it could override the whole system. Just us taking the best parts of both of us and put them together.”

Jack listened as Mark continued to speak out loud.

“Just thinking about what we really are or about our biggest want. Something that would let you let your feelings out and something that would let me analyse. So, you could man the themes of it and I’ll man the form. Like it should be. Something so strong that it takes our pieces and fits them together because it has to, a common ground.”

“Juggling.”

Mark snapped his mouth shut as he turned his head: “What?”

“We could think about juggling. You know? We could juggle and juggle our cares away!” Jack grinned, trying to get the other from his nervous mood as he smirked, while Mark rolled his eyes, a laugh escaping him.

“You’re trying to get back at me, aren’t you?”

“Kinda!“

“Of course.”

Then he smiled softly, replying: “I don’t think that if we think about juggling that it would trigger the computer, but I have something close to it.”

“Yeah?”

“I thought about comedy actually.” He looked down as Jack stared up. “We could think about doing comedy together.”

Jack was not sure how to answer as he blinked.

“But I thought you are against it. You never really cared for it.”

“I thought it is a precarious way to walk upon, a walk with no future, but after all this? I’ve learned that there are more things to life than walk the safe route. More to life than being safe to be happy. And, to be quite frank, I do enjoy being silly here and there.”

Jack chuckled, before he asked carefully: “You mean it?”

Before the red head could nod, the room suddenly shook, Jack yelping and gripping Mark as he saw the ground quake beside him, while Mark helped him with a start up to his feet. They both stared, the piece of floor buzzing, and they stepped away from it slowly, afraid they could walk into another square right after. Jack clung to Mark’s arm as he looked around, the walls coming closer, his throat scratchy as sand paper. For a moment the noise went ballistic on them, it was as if they could hear glass shatter in the distance and the warmth turned into heat, slapping them in the face.

“That’s it right?” Jack then mumbled, his body slightly jumping up as another metallic sound clashed against something.

Mark just nodded.

“That’s good right?” Jack then asked hopefully, not wanting to think of any other possibility, “We’re doing it, right? We’re thinking about it, right?”

Mark knew what was happening, not wanting to start counting off what was happening. But he had no idea what could happen afterwards, everything was possible. So, he nodded just to keep calm, holding Jack by the shoulders as he backed away from another glitch in their near distance.

“Aren’t you happy about that?”

Again, Mark could not speak out all the thoughts that were running through his mind, scenarios overlapping and turning worse and worse. When he stared down at the other, he just needed to be sure that Right Brain was reassured as he answered with the most nonchalant voice he could manage.

“I am.”

“You don’t really sound sure,” Jack pointed out, smiling sadly.

And Mark knew he could not lie, as he sighed and thought of an honest escape.

Finally he mumbled: “I will miss this…”

“Really?” Jack uttered baffled, before jumping, kicking into the direction the square had latched onto him, “What will you miss?” He laughed, as he grinned: “I know what I will miss for instance.”

“Yes?”

“It was nice to actually do what I wanted,” Jack smiled, crossing his arms, “And being silly.”

“Your accent was pretty hilarious.”

Jack retaliated at that before he let out a small: “Oi!”

But Mark grinned as he continued: “And the way you tried to engage conversations and those resulting in us walking around doing chores.”

“We were helpful at least!”

“How we took breaks with the children was nice. And having you on a coffee rush was hilarious.”

“And you being all happy was great!” Jack grinned, while Mark’s shoulder fell.

“It was… fun,” Mark then admitted, “It was really, really fun.”

With that Jack’s heart made a small leap as he grinned proudly, hearing it out loud made it even more special to him.

“See? I told you I could show ya.” He grinned wider. “I told ya!”

“You did.”

“You do have a heart.”

That made Mark snort, as he averted his eyes: “Don’t patronize me.”

Jack just smiled as he saw the other relax his shoulder, the gloom radiating off from him. Jack knew just by looking at the other that he was scared, that he was unsure and he wished he could assure him in some way that this was all going to be okay. He wanted it to be okay, a least wanting to keep the hope alive, even if it would turn into a lie. He was not dumb, he knew Mark was just trying to be brave, so all he could was try to be brave as well.

But the next words made it hard to stay loyal to his thoughts.

“That is why I will miss you.”

Mark would miss talking to the other.

He would miss chasing after him because he saw an animal or a tree.

He would miss Right Brain showing things he deemed important.

He would miss having the other around as a person.

He would miss him.

And when Jack took his hand, the brightest smile on his face, his heart shattered.

“I’m sure while being Bo we won’t get lonely.”

Mark was quiet as Jack did his best to cheer him up.

“And now we will do great!” He threw his hand up as he showed around the place. “Because this was not for nothing, right? We have been through pretty much hell I mean…” He let out an embarrassed laugh, “I guess I died for a second there, which was pretty harrowing.”

That made the red head cringe, but Jack continued as he corrected himself.

“Yeah, I know, not making you feel better, but look! You and I, we pulled through, and so we will Bo, right? Because that’s what we are here for!”

So much optimism.

So much faith.

“…Right,” Mark then nodded, wanting to believe it, “Yes, you are right.”

And Jack took it as his invitation to become excited, his heart thumbing as he took both of Mark’s hands, squeezing them as he nodded vigorously.

“We’re gonna do great Mark! We’re gonna make people laugh!”

“We will!”

It was infectious, the sheer hope of making something work.

They just had to believe hard enough.

So Jack let go as he stretched out one hand instead, as he tilted his head to the side, grinning: “Hand on it?”

And Mark laughed as he stretched himself, hand out as he was prepared to do exactly that. “Hand on it.”

But the handshake did not happen, as instead they both stumbled from each other, another tremble shacking the earth and throwing them almost off their feet. For a short moment Mark’s breath was knocked out of him while Jack’s head pounded, both locking eyes and a flood of emotions welling up in both of them.

“The computer is getting louder,” Jack then whispered out, panic setting in.

And Mark hurried over, just so he could stand back by Jack’s side, holding his shoulders as he squeezed them. For a moment they both ducked by the loud explosion somewhere behind them, their eyes drawn to it, before Mark took Jack’s head between his hands and forced him to look at him, his eyes burning with determination.

“Right Brain, we’re going to make comedy together, okay?” he asked him, “You hear?”

Jack nodded as he gripped the other’s arms: “We’re gonna make comedy together.”

“Yes, we’re going to do that, okay? Remember that, we’re going to make comedy. Together. As a team. Okay?”

At first Jack felt he might actually explode, his heart beating so hard in his chest that he thought it might burst out of his rib cage. But the moment he could get his bearings back, happiness cursing through him, he encircled his arms around Mark, pulling him closer as he buried his head in his shoulder. The weight on his chest lifted completely then and he hiccupped out laughs.

For a second he wondered if they could not stay like this, he was actually scared to go back, scared that everything might have been for nothing, wanting to keep that moment safe.

But when Mark’s shoulders started to shake he knew something had changed. He could feel that something had changed, see that something had changed, and he pressed further into him, hands almost clawing into the others shirt. Now that they had come so far, he did not want to let go, anything but that. He could not lose that one moment of real understanding between them.

He could hear how the machine getting louder and he buried himself further into Mark, knees suddenly feeling like jelly.

“Mark.”

The addressed one glanced down, Jack watching as tears of fright had gathered in his eyes, glasses smudged and hair ruffled. He could only imagine what he looked like himself as he gave a watery smile.

“Mark…” he choked back, “Left Brain… Left Brain, I love you.”

Mark’s eyes softened as the last few drops rolled down, his smile crooked and hesitant, holding on to Jack with jittering hands. The room burned brighter, the sound was deafening, knowing that it would not take long anymore. Both of them looked around for the last time, Jack not really caring if the other would give him a response to his words as he pressed his head against the red head’s chest. Both of them were still engulfed in a hug, and he could feel something akin to a heartbeat against his ear, every other noise slowly dying out on him.

But Mark still needed to answer Jack, his fingers twitching as he tried to put words to his thoughts, them getting jumbled and mixed. He could not repeat the words Jack had said. He could not find a way to properly say what he felt. But he needed to tell him, needed to tell the other that he was feeling the same, that he appreciated him, that he had enjoyed having him around, that he had fun, how the villagers loved to put it, having a little brother around. He had learned from him, had finally understood what it meant to work together.

But how could he say all of this?

Suddenly Jack heard the other take a deep breath, preparing to try his best to respond, Jack listening intently.

“I know.”

The two words had come softly and hushed and Jack understood them perfectly, knew exactly what the other meant in those two small words. He had to smile as he nodded against the other, reassuring him as he gripped him tighter, knuckles turning white.

Then the world turned black.


	31. Experimentation Complete

Coming to his senses the first thing he felt was the cold floor underneath him, his face pressed against it.

The next thing was the undeniable feeling of having to cough his lungs up as he moved his hands beside him, pushing his upper body forward and letting it out. Clear liquid landed on the white floor, his body convulsing and he grabbed his chest as he continued, hoping to get some air in at some point, gasping. For another few moments he continued, no end in sight, before finally only having to heave breaths, his chest feeling sore. His eyes were still closed, so he finally cracked them open, his hand wandering to them and rubbing, the crust there crumbling away.

As he looked up he noticed his hair in his face and he brushed it away, only to startle.

It was brown.

Brown hair.

With a small jump he stretched himself upright, before landing on his rear, grabbing the strands with confusion.

Were they not just green before?

Or red?

Both?

Another slap of realization hit him as he looked down at himself.

His shirt was not green anymore, but yellow, or did he have a red flannel on before? His shoes were back to having shoelaces, or were they there the whole time? Petting his face, it was not square or round, it was a mix of both and when he took the strand again he was sure it was brown, light brown as ever.

Sitting up, his balance returning with a bit of trouble he looked around, seeing a panel that reflected himself and he let out a small gasp.

His eyes were back to green.

He was back to being tall.

He was back to Bo.

He was Bo.

Staring at his hands in fascination he moved them slowly, turning them up and down, as if to proof that they belonged to him, before tilting his body from one foot to the other. Petting his face again he could not find any glasses and the fringe was back to the side, not falling into his eyes. Another set of seconds he stared back at his hands, before he curled his arms around his body, as if he was hugging himself, crouching to his knees, letting out a breath.

“I’m back.”

The words he uttered were in his voice, no accent, not deep like the ocean, just his.

His voice.

His.

He was himself.

He startled as the computer beside him started to roar to life again and he pressed himself to the next convenient wall, eyes wide and mouth agape. The screen looked like before, menacing hovering above him, just that a gigantic crack ran over its surface. The ground was littered with torn out panels, cut cables sticking out of the walls, electricity jumping out of them like fireworks. The numbers were running as before down the screen, the light a steady glow, and Bo almost jumped out of his skin as the voice came back.

“Reassemble complete.”

The voice was cracked, like screeching nails, but it sounded just as bored as before.

Bo had almost a heart attack, but somehow was steady enough to force words out, as he mumbled: “You brought me back?”

“How are you feeling?”

The question made him jump, but he let his shoulders fall as he sighed, knowing he was probably over-reacting. He stretched himself briefly, then fell back to his knees, finally sitting on the floor, still not used to the weight he was putting on his legs, as if he had not moved his body in a week.

He had not, he realized.

“I… kinda feel tired?” he finally managed to say.

“Anything else?”

Now he frowned, the hatred he felt towards the computer overwhelming him, but also a wave of reassurance welling up that it really had just tried to help. It was not trying to kill him, had not tried to kill him, and now it was just asking if he was okay. He could not really blame a technical device for wanting to do its purpose.

“Let me just get my bearings back okay?” he settled on saying, still shaken up by the events that took place.

Laying down on the floor he breathed out, his thoughts racing.

He had managed to keep his emotions concealed for years.

Had managed to lie to himself.

Had managed to ask for help.

Had managed to fight with himself.

Had managed to accept things.

Had managed to have fun beside his situation.

Had managed to forgive himself.

“Fuck my life.”

Laying his hands-on top of his chest, folding them together he stared at the ceiling, his face neutral.

“Was I really so scared of following my definition of happiness?”

“Yes.”

“Thanks, unembodied voice, I appreciate your comment.”

“You are welcome.”

He had to laugh at that, suddenly, not really knowing why but needing to let it out.

A small snicker it was, before it got louder, Bo starting to sit upright as he laughed harder, his chest hurting. It was an honest laugh, loud and bright, echoing around him and he was starting to slap his knees, as if he had heard the best joke he had ever heard. Soon enough the laugh turned soft, giggling, small giggling before turning into sobbing and he pressed his hands against his face, the flush spreading there making him shake harder. He had no idea if it were the events catching up to him, the near-death experience crawling up his spine, or if it was just the pure relief of being here. But as the tears rolled down his face and he felt the salt enter his mouth he cried harder, his whole body releasing one wave after the other.

“Why am I crying?” he then spluttered out in between, not wanting to continue but doing it anyway, his body telling him to, “I can’t stop.”

“Crying is a process of healing.”

And Bo did, suddenly not caring if he felt his fingers twitch and the hole in his chest filling up with emotions he could not place. His whole body turned against him, but it felt right, and he cried, wails leaving him as the computer buzzed, not commenting any more of it.

Finally, what felt like hours, Bo started to sit up, sniffing and wishing the snot and water as best as he could away from his face as he asked timidly: “Am I actually okay now?”

“The session is at its end. Experiment complete.”

“It’s over,” Bo said out loud, almost not believing it, “It’s over.”

The doors behind him opened and he looked back, his posture showing uncertainty as he glanced at the screen with a worried expression.

“Good luck on your further path, patient 24602, Robert Bo Burnham.”

“Thank you,” Bo mumbled, “Sorry for calling you rust bucket back then.”

“I do not have feelings, so I did not feel insulted.”

“Right.”

“Take care you three.”

And with that the computer powered down, Bo hearing a slight crack and pieces falling to the ground. For a moment he stood frozen, as cables fried and detached themselves, as if they only had waited for that moment. The lights above him died out, the ground panels that had been glowing dimming into darkness. A voice in his mind reassured him that the computer was useless now, that it had done and finished its last purpose with waving flags.

Bo had to swallow a bit at that and looked down again, wiggling his toes in his shoes, blinking as he observed the room with a clear sight. For a second he wondered where the bodies were he had inhabited, but then he forced that thought right back down, knowing that the answer would leave a bitter after taste, no matter what.

So instead he backed away, almost sorrowful as the screen flickered off and he felt suddenly bad for it.

Waving at it he made his way out, closing the door behind him and marched through the guestroom, the small computer beside the table powered off as well. Bo could not help himself as he petted it lightly, before his eyes went over to the couch, staring at it. The need to jump on it came and his thoughts went running.

It would still be very stupid and childish to jump on it, Bo stepping carefully in front of it, inspecting it.

Then he put a foot on top of the cushions and experimentally made a few small hops.

He giggled.

Then he got into it as he let out a loud cheer, jumping higher and higher, almost touching the ceiling and knocking his head into it.

Laughing and falling to the side, he brushed the dust off after a while, picked up the last magazines scattered on the coffee table, pushing them into his pockets, and walked out with a relieved breath.

The car that had brought him here would stay he decided, the keys still in the engine.

Mark had been a great driver, but both had been terrified, and Bo read his feelings as a clear no.

Instead he pressed his head against the glass of the bus, his eyes following the grey houses as they disappeared, green welling up from the ground and he sighed, glad to see that the sky had cleared up somewhat. The people in the bus were all sleepy themselves, but he heavily assumed just because they were dreading to go back to work while he had a hell of a night behind him.

Stepping out and into the square, he felt a mix of relief, curiosity and dread.

It was early morning, but people were out, it was time for most to go to work and school and he felt out of place. He saw people he knew and they waved at him, one or two even stopped and asked him where he had been, he having to make up a story on the spot to not accidentally tell the truth in a rush of words.

It felt weird to him.

But good in a way.

He could feel his face smiling and ready to react to any comment that was made, but also was being careful on his words, listening and speaking with purpose. He was not stiff with his words and he could rearrange his thoughts when people reacted differently then he had anticipated.

It was still a stumbling and trying, but the kind where he knew it would get him farther.

So, he was not surprised when he suddenly heard a small squeak, followed by Nina clinging to his leg, a string of “Where have you been?!” “We missed you!” and “Are you okay?” leaving her in a hurry. He had to laugh as he waved at her, asking her how she was doing and she was sure to tell him all about her adventures with his cousins, Bo listening intently.

“And then Jack got sick, but he and Mark still went with us to the forest and everybody was really happy about the lights! You should have seen it!”

“I wish I had,” Bo grinned, knowing exactly what it looked like and feeling the warmth spread in his chest, “Must have been beautiful.”

“It was! It really was, but I didn’t see the two yesterday and today either,” Nina explained, as she looked up at him, “Did they already go home?”

Bo felt a pang of sadness as he had to nod: “Yeah. They went home, they are planning a long trip actually.”

Nina’s face crunched up a bit: “I didn’t even thank them or say bye…”

“I’m sure they appreciate it,” he assured her, grinning softly, “They told me they had a lot of fun with you guys.”

That made her smile again as she continued her story of what she had planned with her friends today and Bo nodded here and there, not really needed anywhere and having no reason to stop her. He was aware of people watching, probably because they wondered where he had been for so long with no luggage with him or any indication of what he had done, but he did not really care. Also the fact that he seemed so relaxed and so plain happy was probably unusual and he had to laugh at the adventures Nina was describing so colourfully. He did however lift an eyebrow as Nina suddenly stopped, seemingly noticing someone and waving.

“Hi, Sammy!”

Bo turned in his place, as his heart beat louder, watching as Samantha made her way over. Differently than before as Jack, Bo was less nervous, in his head knowing that if he messed up he still could be proud of having tried as he watched her wave at Nina in greeting.

And because of that fact he was not as smitten as usual to miss the small flash of relief that flickered in her eyes as she stepped up to him.

In her greeting she cautiously glanced at Nina before she settled on asking how he had been doing, what his plans were and, almost most importantly, how his cousins were doing and how his meeting with them went. Bo had responded with a neutral smile, telling her that it went pretty well, even if the time they had spent together was really short lived, at which she nodded knowingly.

“Thanks for helping my cousins out by the way,” Bo then added, rubbing his neck, “They get in those kinds of pickles often, you know?”

“It was my pleasure,” Samantha replied, as she tilted her head, “They were… quite eccentric, that is for sure.”

“You can say that out loud.”

“But they were nice,” she laughed, “Charming.”

“Guess it’s in the family,” Bo shrugged, grinning, “We do have a flair for weirdness.”

Samantha laughed softly as she tapped her finger on her chin and mused: “Funny. And here I thought you are the only eccentric one, with your jokes and music and such.” Then she smirked. “The relation you three have is uncanny. But I’m not surprised, would have been even more weird if they really had not been like you at all.”

Bo blinked confused: “What do you mean?”

“Did you know that I actually had coloured hair once?” she replied instead, “Blue and pink, like my little necklace here.”

He stared down at it while she giggled.

“It happened after I moved, so you can’t know. Felt kind of bad, kind of sad for a long while, and it was the city, so, you had chances to change things. I really enjoyed the blue tone, made me feel light and spunky, you could say! But pink on the other hand was… intimidating to wear, I was very unsure with it a lot of the time, even though I felt smarter with it. At the end I settled on it being blonde again, even though I miss the colours sometimes.”

He had no idea on how to reply.

“I wonder if I should at least dunk a few strands back to pink and blue, for nostalgia sake,” she continued, “I guess green and red would suit you as well.”

He smiled softly: “Actually that’s a great idea, Sammy.”

“Just saying the truth.”

“Well, I do appreciate honesty.”

That made her blush cheekily, before she grinned, agreeing with him. Then she had to make her leave, asking Nina if she wanted to come with her and the two of them left Bo behind, who was cheering and also coming to terms with the revelation in his head.

Not having made a fool of himself in front of her was incredible and knowing that he had someone he could fall back upon for his questions was encouraging. He had many questions open, needing to know the answers.

What had happened to the many people where it had gone wrong with the experiment?

Who had built the facility?

How come it had still been working, if it was abandoned?

Why was it left behind?

He decided that he had time later for these kinds of conversations.

Now however it was time to act into a completely different direction, his feet already carrying him over to the café.

Stepping in he was met with Spencer, who dashed into him full force, while Mai and Olivia did so a second later, screaming at him in greeting, hugging him from every side and angle, before running out, having to go to school while Bo rolled his eyes in amusement.

He loved those rascals.

And when he saw Wade behind the counter he could not help himself but let his childish side take over as he sneaked his way in front of him, standing and watching as he wrote down something in his small notebook.

“Need more coffee for the crowd?”

The face Wade made, made Bo burst out laughing.

The other was scrambling his way back, hitting the wall behind him and for a moment he looked like he was seeing a ghost, pencil and paper having fallen unceremoniously to the ground as his pupils dashed across the others face. For a moment his mouth just opened and closed like a dying fish, before his face lit up the smile going across his whole face as he leant forward.

“Bo?!”

“The one and only!”

While he stretched his arms to the side, as if presenting himself, Wade did not waste time and jumped over the counter, tackling the other into a hug, his smile splitting his face into half. Bo laughed loudly as he was squeezed and he had a hard time breathing, tapping the others shoulder while Wade pressed his face against his.

“Wade… Personal space…”

“Fuck that, you asshole! You died, give me that moment!”

Bo had to snicker but relented as he hugged him back, his hands shacking at the knowledge what he had put the other through. It was incredible to know what kind of friend he had in him and he sighed slightly at the smell the other gave from himself, coffee and lemon, his eyes watering.

“I missed you so much.”

Bo nodded as he responded: “It’s good to be back.”

“But how?” Wade stepped back as he took his hand into his own, “What even happened? Mark just took my car in the middle of the night and told me you’d come back, but it all went on so fast… what even happened to them after…” He spluttered. “What happened to you? Them? Uh…”

“Them,” Bo provided helpfully, “They had… a real time trial showdown to be honest.”

“Are you serious?”

“Well, I did die twice, I guess?”

Wade put his head in his hands as he let out a moan: “You are going to kill me one day.”

And Bo laughed as he petted Wade’s shoulder: “It worked out, so that is all that matters.”

“How do you feel?”

Bo stopped as he thought again, putting his hand over his heart in a slow motion. He blinked a few times as he sorted through what he knew and felt. At first it was overwhelming him a bit, so many words he could use, so many emotions he could display. But then he settled on smiling.

“I feel happy.”

And Wade grinned as he clapped his back.

“Finally.” He pointed to the others mouth. “That suits you.”

Bo just snickered slightly, brushing the others hand away from his face as he shrugged.

“I think it’s gonna be a common occurrence now.”

Then he sighed, as he stared at Wade with a look the other could have described with anxiousness and excitement, waiting for him to continue. This time however, instead of just waiting for his tongue to work, Bo pulled out paper from his pockets. Lifting an eyebrow Wade observed how Bo skillfully made a boat and then looked up, sighing.

“I need your help with something.”

Wade did not hesitate a second as he replied: “Sure, with what?”

“There are a few things, actually.”

“I’ve got time.”

“I need to quit my job, like, right now.”

Wade went silent as he regarded the other with a slight hint of amusement.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“I guess that’s a great plan,” he shrugged, “Change of pace will do you good.”

Bo nodded: “You could say that.”

“What else?”

“Well, one obvious thing is getting your car back. I… couldn’t drive it home, so I left it there.”

“That’s fine, time to clean that rust bucket I suppose, you can keep me company for that.”

“I also ask you to help me find a place for my real job, if that’s okay.”

Wade rolled his eyes as he shook his head, grinning wider: “Dude, please. I know you, you know me. Of course it is.”

Bo went silent as the excitement left his body, sorrow lacing his voice as he mumbled: “I have to go to the park later and let a paper boat float.”

Wade fell silent.

“For who?”

“For… for all of them. All four of them.”

Bo knew it sounded weird.

The fact that only now he would pay his respects to his parents was maybe understandable, it was long time overdue, but to think of himself as two different people that need to be set off as well sounded curious. The knowledge of never seeing them again should be a happy occasion in this case. Still it felt wrong now, too. He could not quite place if it was the fact that he missed them both, or that they missed each other, it was all a curious mess. The only thing he did know was that he had to thank all four, the four who had only had his best in their interests.

He was thankful for all the memories they shared and gave him.

And Wade petted his shoulder once again: “Of course we can. No pressure.”

Bo still needed a minute to gather himself, reassurance cursing through him, somehow not only because of the one in front of him but also himself. He felt a little lost, but it was the kind of lost feeling that would soon turn to energy to push him further on a good way, he was sure. So he was back to stretching himself to his full height as he nodded.

“Well,” Bo uttered finally, as he tilted his head, “The last thing.”

“Lay it on me.”

“Can you help me out with a song?”

“What?”

Wade was flabbergasted, just staring, before he shook his head, blinking.

“I mean, yeah of course I can, just. You never asked me for help on that before?” He frowned, “What does a song have to do with anything?”

The adventure Bo had gone through was unbelievable.

No one would ever take him seriously with it.

Two people in one mind? Ridiculous.

Laughable.

And absolutely perfect.

So he had the widest grin on his face as he hugged the paper boat to his chest, telling his confused friend with a small laugh:

“I might have an idea for a skit.”

**Author's Note:**

> This took me a year to write, but it was worth it


End file.
